Ethiopia to Host 30th East Africa Law Society Conference

Addis Ababa, November 24, 2025 (ENA)— Ethiopia is set to host the 30th Annual Conference of the East Africa Law Society (EALS) in Addis Ababa from November 26-29, 2025.

The conference marks a significant milestone, aiming to celebrate 30 years of promoting the rule of law and regional integration within the East African legal community.

It will also serve as a forum to chart the next chapter of the legal profession in the region.

 

 

Briefing the media, Tewodros Getachew, President of the Ethiopian Federal Bar Association, emphasized that this will be the first time in history that Ethiopia has convened the annual assembly and conference of the East Africa Law Society.

He stated that the conference is expected to draw 700 to 1,000 participants, including national bar presidents from Eastern Africa and beyond, and partners from international lawyers' associations throughout the world.

“We're expecting them to participate in this General Assembly and conference, and also representatives of various international organizations, including African organs,” he emphasized.

Among the thematic areas of discussion are the Leading Law Firms’ Forum, the Women Lawyers’ Forum, the Young Lawyers’ Forum, and the Rule of Law Section. The speaker noted that many other topics will also be discussed, featuring a platform of international panelists who excel in their specific fields.

“We are expecting that the Ethiopian lawyers are going to benefit a lot from this, in terms of directly participating from those training panels, in terms of capacity building, in terms of networking, in terms of expanding their practice, and also influencing the region as well,” Tewodros noted.

CEO of East Africa Law Society David Sigano said for his part that this historic event has a lot of essential events, and it is part of a wave of creating an African lawyer that is able to operate without the fear of borders or without the limitation of borders, he affirmed.

 

 

“We are creating lawyers that feel comfortable operating in Addis Ababa, lawyers that feel comfortable operating in Juba, lawyers that feel comfortable operating in Nairobi, Kinshasa, Kampala, Bujumbura, Kigali, and Dar es Salaam without having to worry that I'm going to another country.”

He further noted that the sole purpose is to create an East African lawyer that has a global mindset.

Key themes include discussions on innovation, AI, climate justice, the future of justice, governance, and regional unity, and fostering stronger ties between legal practitioners across the region.

Legal practitioners, including judges, advocates, in-house counsel, academics, policymakers, young lawyers among other distinguished categories of practitioners are expected to attend the conference.