Nairobi City County has saved an estimated KSh8.48 billion over the last two financial years after significantly reducing its reliance on external law firms and strengthening its internal legal department, according to a report by the County Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.

The report covering the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years indicates that the county has shifted more legal work to its in-house advocates, a move that has substantially reduced legal costs while improving the management of court cases. The committee also noted that the legal department successfully negotiated down legal fees claimed by external law firms, further easing the county’s financial burden.

During the review period, the county concluded 174 court cases, with 84 of them handled by internal lawyers. Of those handled in-house, 47 cases were determined in favour of the county, translating to a success rate of 56 per cent.

The committee attributed the savings to reforms aimed at building the capacity of the county’s legal department, allowing it to take on more litigation that would previously have been outsourced to private advocates at a higher cost.

The development marks a significant turnaround for Nairobi, which has in recent years faced scrutiny over ballooning legal costs and pending bills linked to external law firms. Auditor General reports had previously flagged the county for accumulating billions of shillings in unpaid legal fees, making it one of the biggest spenders on outsourced legal services among county governments.

Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson says the strategy of strengthening internal legal capacity is expected to continue, with the savings allowing more public resources to be redirected towards service delivery and development projects instead of costly legal expenses.