Owusu & Partners Global launches with Africa at the heart of its cross-border legal practice model

Owusu & Partners Global has launched to begin September, with a model designed to give independent practitioners the infrastructure and support associated with leading barristers’ chambers, while enabling specialist lawyers to build transactional and disputes practices across jurisdictions.

Founder and Managing Director Nana Owusu told Africa Legal that the idea grew from his experience of the support structures that allow independent barristers to develop successful practices – and his belief that the principles underpinning them can be utilised more widely and internationally.

“Working within leading barristers’ chambers provided a strong understanding of the infrastructure, relationships and support that enable independent practitioners to build successful practices, while also highlighting the opportunity to take those principles beyond the traditional boundaries of domestic practice and create something truly international,” says Owusu. 

Owusu & Partners Global draws on elements of both law firms and barristers’ chambers; members remain independent and self-employed in delivering legal services, while Owusu & Partners Global provides practice management, clerking, business development, marketing, and operational support.

Speaking to Africa Legal ahead of tonight’s official launch party in central London, Owusu said he sees a mismatch between the increasingly international practices of individual lawyers and the structures surrounding them. Barristers and transactional lawyers already work across borders, he said, but many organisations are not really set up to support that mobility and international reach – something the new international group aims for its infrastructure to address.

In simple terms, practitioners can concentrate on practising law while his team focuses on the “business of law” around domestic and cross-border practice 

“Africa is a core part of that vision,” says Owusu. “There is an exceptional depth of legal talent across the continent, and I believe many lawyers have the ambition to build greater professional independence while developing their practices.”

Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Owusu maintains close ties with Ghana. His experience of international legal work had also left him questioning why Africa was often overlooked despite expertise and demand flowing in both directions.

For Owusu, Ghanaian and wider African expertise can be valuable on international matters just as UK expertise can play a beneficial role in some cross-border work involving Africa.

That outlook is reflected in the founding membership of Owusu & Partners Global. Dean Armstrong KC specialises in cyber law, technology, and digital assets, while Bruce Drummond is a commercial barrister. Kobina Hughes, dual-qualified in the UK and Ghana, brings experience across construction and energy, while Brian Mondoh is a technology and commercial specialist with rights of audience in England and Wales, Trinidad and Tobago, and the ADGM Courts.

While Africa is an important part of Owusu & Partners Global's international strategy, Owusu says the London-based international group is equally focused on developing its presence across the Middle East, Caribbean and Asia. “Our ambition is to develop a fast-growing international legal management group with a strong and distinguished African panel, connected to leading practitioners in the UK and other international markets,” he adds.

The longer-term test will be whether the model can turn that independence into international reach – creating a platform through which specialist lawyers can build genuinely cross-border independent practices, supported by Owusu & Global Partners, while clients access expertise across borders.