Longhorn Publishers acquired a 74% stake in Law Africa enabling both businesses to expand the scope and reach of their respective offerings whilst also ensuring the continued growth of Law Africa.
LawAfrica released more titles and expanded the online database to include East Africa Law Reports (EALR, 1957-2013), East Africa Court of Appeal Reports (EACA, 1934-1956) and East Africa Protectorate Law Reports (EAPLR, 1909-1933). LawAfrica has also launched ebooks for the international market through a partnership with African Books Collective. This year has also seen the start of the first comprehensive legal index.
LawAfrica made the big move and acquired its own permanent premises. The same year the production team worked hard and saw LawAfrica release over 20 new local titles (commentaries) including the design of all the title covers and marketing materials in-house. The same year saw the online team increase the LawAfrica Law Reports (LLR) online database by over 5,000 cases. In keeping up with technology, LawAfrica also collaborated with ekitabu to launched 10 titles in epub format which can be purchased, downloaded and read from smartphones, tablets and laptops.
LawAfrica published Uganda Protectorate Law Reports dating back to 1901 and published its 100th Commentary. LawAfrica also started designing its marketing materials in-house by utilizing team members with graphic design skills and saw the creation of an IT department to handle the company’s computer systems, networking and general support. The company also released 3 new issues of Laws of Kenya, a new yearly record. In addition, LawAfrica redesigned its website to enhance the law reports database engine, add applications and features, integrate the database and applications enable online payment.
LawAfrica published the Sudan Law Reports and Journal with funding from International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) for the Sudan Judiciary. The same year saw the publication of the 1st Supplement on Odunga’s Digest on Civil cases to update the previous publication with changes in the new constitution. That same year, LawAfrica released the East Africa Protectorate Law Reports (1909 - 1933) and the East Africa Court of Appeal Reports (1934 - 1956), thereby increasing recorded years of Law Reporting to 102 years and showcasing how case law reporting has evolved since the days of King Henry to the present Queen Elizabeth rule. That same year LawAfrica acquired Adobe InDesign, the most advanced desktop publishing software program and started publishing Laws of Kenya, law reports and commentaries (local titles) in-house
LawAfrica began consolidating and publishing the Laws of Tanzania (Main and Subsidiary Legislation) and Tanzania Law Reports, the cornerstone of the legal framework of the Republic of Tanzania. That same year, the first ever Kenyan commentary on civil Case Law & Procedure, Odunga’s Digest in hardback volumes was published. 2010 also saw LawAfrica partner with the Government of Uganda through the Law Development Centre – established in 1970 by the Law Development Centre Act (Cap. 132, Laws of Uganda) for the publishing of Uganda Law Reports - the official Law Reports of the Republic of Uganda. The same year (2010), LawAfrica won the contract from the Financial and Legal Sector Technical Assistance Project (Government of Kenya and World Bank funded project) for the publishing and printing of select laws for the National Council of Law Reporting (established under the National Council for Law Reporting Act, Cap 11, Laws of Kenya). The key legislations namely, Commercial Law, Family Law, Public Law, Finance Law, Land Law and most notably, the Grey Book.
LawAfrica Uganda successfully entered into a joint venture with Uganda Law Society (The Official Bar Association of Uganda with over 1,500 members) which culminated in the publishing of the Uganda Law Society Reports.
LawAfrica set up a New Business Division, with a specific focus to identify, explore and conquer new market areas in legal information publishing. The venture bore fruit with the entrance of LawAfrica into Southern Sudan and developed an electronic dataset of the Sudan Law Reports and Journal dating back to 1953 and putting together the 1st legal library in Southern Sudan - Ministry of Legal Affairs.
LawAfrica joined hands with the East Africa Law Society. This culminated into the launch of the one-of-a-kind Compendium of Codes of Legal Practice, Conduct, Ethics and Etiquette in East Africa. The project was oiled with funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). That same year (2005), armed with a commitment to customer service excellence, LawAfrica ventured into training its existing clients, a project that was mainly aimed at supplementing its information chain. LawAfrica also firmly set foot in Tanzania, developing a partnership with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar to reprint the Zanzibar Protectorate Law Reports covering the period from 1868 to 1956.
LawAfrica formed a Book Trading Division that negotiates continent-wide trade discounts for books then imports them from various overseas suppliers. The importance this of this division is that it promotes access to justice through the provision of the right information, to the right people at the right and very affordable prices. That same year (2001) also saw the Company expand to Uganda when it set up LawAfrica Publishing (Uganda) Ltd in Kampala.
LawAfrica acquired the rights to reprint the East Africa Law Reports - a series of law reports that date back to 1957 when the East Africa Community was initially formed with the principal members being Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. That year, LawAfrica also created the very first online presence for the Law Society of Kenya, a major milestone for the legal community.