Mercy Okiro, FCIArb,  brings over a decade of post-admission experience to her practice. With over 12 years of experience, she has represented and advised local and international clients, particularly in alternative dispute resolution, corporate and ESG governance, legislative and policy reform, construction law and sports law.

She is the current Chairperson of the board of the National Construction Authority in Kenya. Mercy is the Convenor of the Law Society of Kenya’s Sports Disputes Tribunal Bar-Bench Committee and an adjunct faculty member of the Kenya School of Law and Strathmore University.

She has served as the sole arbitrator, mediator, and construction adjudicator in disputes across various industries. Mercy is a member of the panels of neutrals for several local and regional institutions. Mercy is an active member of the arbitration community, sitting on the Council of the Association of Young Arbitrators and serving as an Advisory Board member of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (Young Arbitrators Network), as well as a Steering Committee Member of Equality for Representation in Arbitration, Africa. She was an ICC YAAF Representative for Africa and the MENA region, sat on the Steering Committee of the Young Members Group of CIArb London, and was the founding Chair of the Young Members Group of CIArb Kenya. She also served as an Ambassador for the Alliance for Equality in Dispute Resolution, Arbitrator Intelligence, and Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (REAL).

She has also authored numerous articles in sports law and ADR and has sat on various boards in the private sector, both locally and internationally.

Mercy’s academic background includes a Master of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Laws degree in International Commercial and Investment Arbitration from Queen Mary University of London, and an Oxford Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration. She also has professional certifications in corporate governance, trade law and policy, ESG governance, legal audits, arbitration, mediation, and sports dispute resolution.

In 2019, she was honoured as “The Young African Arbitration Practitioner of the Year 2019”; she was also listed as one of Africa’s Most Promising Young Arbitrators in 2020, 2021, and 2022 by the Association of Young Arbitrators. Additionally, she was named second runner-up as ADR Practitioner of the Year in 2021 by the Law Society of Kenya, Nairobi Branch. In 2023, she received the Jury’s Award for her contributions to ADR from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Kenya.