The Law Society of Kenya Nairobi Branch set up an annual legal excellence Awards Programme in 2018. This was done in recognition of the challenges noted with law practice in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties including the quality of client care and client satisfaction, quality of legal services and engagement between members of the profession and other professional bodies. The Branch noted the absence of professional standards of practice to govern the operations of law firms and legal departments and aims to promote the setting of standards to serve as benchmark for excellence in legal practice in the country and the region and to make legal practice in Kenya and the region, globally competitive.

The Awards Programme was thus set up to recognize law firms/ legal departments and individual lawyers with outstanding standards of practice and legal service delivery in an effort towards encouraging excellence in practice. The criteria for the various awards is based on globally recognized best practice in legal practice. So far, 3 editions of the Nairobi Legal Awards have been held.