On behalf of the Management and the entire staff of Bank of Africa Kenya Limited, we wish to convey our heartfelt condolence to the Coulson Harney Fraternity following the demise of Chairman and Senior Partner, Mr. Robert Legh. We have lost a noble mind whose contribution leaves a footprint. May you find peace ahead. May His Soul Rest In Eternal Peace.

I was gutted to hear of Rob’s passing last week.  My sincere condolences to you and the Bowmans family. 

It conjured up many warm memories of the time I spent with you and him during and after my articles at Bowmans all those many moons ago – 1999-2002 (Ezra: “My friend… my friend…. Let’s get it going!  I wanna see results!” Rob: [Eye-roll…] smile…).  Rob was a thoroughly decent man and his kind, calm, considered and generous manner will be missed by so many.  An ideal leader in many respects.

So sorry!!

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Rob Legh last week.

This news has resonated throughout the global Uber family as we remember him as a respected lawyer with a laudable career. There is little I can say that has not been covered in the numerous moving tributes to him, so I will touch on two of my personal memories.

I think I first recall him either a member or the head of the Competition Committee in the 00s when he managed to calm the outrage of competition lawyers to help present balanced yet robust comments to proposed legislative amendments. More recently, I attended an art exhibition held at Bowmans to benefit a children’s NGO, and I recall him giving an address and his exchange of banter with the curator, and later observing him moving through the crowd but periodically returning to his wife Kathryn’s side.

His impact on law in South Africa and beyond is indisputable, and I am also thankful for the opportunity to have seen these other glimpses of the man you all must have known so well, and whom you must miss dearly.

We send you our deepest condolences in this difficult time and hope that you may find some solace through this trying circumstance.

I’ve heard and read about the sad news of Rob Legh’s passing. Please receive my deepest sympathies – to you as well as the wider Bowmans family. Poleni sana

We were truly saddened to hear of Rob’s passing away. Our sincere condolences to everyone at Bowmans and to Rob’s family and friends.

Conscient that Rob was a bright star looking after Bowmans, its values, spirit, and colleagues for so many years, we hope that in some way he continues to guide the firm from up above. May he rest in peace and guard his loved ones as well.

Considering the impact of Rob’s life and work, we trust that the below poem is a fair reflection of our thoughts on the loss of an extraordinary human being. We also wish that it may provides some peace and comfort in this time of grief. Feel free to pass it on.

When Great Trees Fall

Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,

rocks on distant hills shudder,

lions hunker down

in tall grasses,

and even elephants

lumber after safety.

 

When great trees fall

in forests,

small things recoil into silence,

their senses

eroded beyond fear.

 

When great souls die,

the air around us becomes

light, rare, sterile.

We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly,

see with

a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened,

examines,

gnaws on kind words

unsaid,

promised walks

never taken.

 

Great souls die and

our reality, bound to

them, takes leave of us.

Our souls,

dependent upon their

nurture,

now shrink, wizened.

Our minds, formed

and informed by their

radiance, fall away.

We are not so much maddened

as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of

dark, cold

caves.

 

And when great souls die,

after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always

irregularly. Spaces fill

with a kind of

soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never

to be the same, whisper to us.

They existed. They existed.

We can be. Be and be

better. For they existed.

 

With our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers.