Big Five (law firms) in South Africa

Last updated

Location of South Africa South Africa (orthographic projection).svg
Location of South Africa

The Big Five law firms is a term informally used in South Africa to refer to those law firms which, collectively, are perceived to be the leading law firms based in South Africa.

Contents

The following firms are usually seen as comprising the "Big Five" (listed alphabetically):[ discuss ] [1] [2] [3]

NameDate foundedOfficesLawyers
Bowmans 1885Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Moka, Nairobi (9) (July 2020) [4] 400+ (July 2020) [5]
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr 11853Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch (3) (July 2020) [6] 350+ (July 2020) [7]
Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, trading as ENSafrica1905Accra, Alexandra (pro bono office), Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Mitchells Plain (pro bono office), Nairobi, Port Louis, Stellenbosch, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Windhoek (14) [8] 600+ (July 2020) [9]
Webber Wentzel in alliance with Linklaters 21868 [10] Cape Town, Johannesburg (2) (July 2020) [11] [12] 450+ (July 2020) [13]
Werksmans 31917 [14] Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch (3) (July 2020) [15] 175+ (July 2020) [16]

Note1: Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr was formerly allied with DLA Piper. Its affiliation with DLA Piper ended at the end of August 2015. [17]

Note2: On 1 February 2013, the firm entered into a collaborative alliance with global law firm Linklaters. [18]

Note3: Deneys Reitz Inc, and then Norton Rose Fulbright, was formerly considered to form part of the big five law firms. Due to its decline, Werksmans, which was not part of the big five law firms, took its place.

Rankings

Chambers and Partners Global rankings

Chambers and Partners Global Rankings of the number of departments recognised as leaders in their respective fields in South Africa in 2020. This list is non-exhaustive.

Rank1NameBand 1Band 2Band 3Band 4
1 Webber Wentzel 13 [19] 3 [19] 4 [19] None [19]
2 Bowmans 12 [20] 4 [21] 2 [21] 1 [21]
3 ENSafrica 9 [22] 8 [22] 2 [22] None [22]
4 Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr 6 [21] 10 [21] 3 [21] None [21]
5 Werksmans 3 [23] 7 [23] 4 [23] 2 [23]
Allen & Overy South Africa 1 [24]
Clyde & Co South Africa 1 [25] None [25] 2 [25] None [25]
Spoor & Fisher 1 [26] None [26] None [26] None [24]
Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa None [27] 6 [27] 2 [27] 3 [27]
Fasken Martineau South Africa None [28] 2 [28] 1 [28] 3 [28]
Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa None [29] 1 [29] None [29] 4 [29]
Shepstone & Wylie None [30] 1 [30] None [30] None [30]
Baker McKenzie South Africa None [31] None [31] 4 [31] 4 [31]
DLA Piper South Africa None [32] None [32] 2 [32] None [32]
Fluxmans None [33] None [33] None [33] 3 [33]
Knowles Husain Lindsay None [34] None [34] None [34] 1 [34]
Lawtons Africa None [35] None [35] None [35] None [35]

Note1: Based on Band 1 rankings.

Law firms included in the Global 100 aren't assigned a specific ranking.

YearFirm3
2013 ENSafrica [36]
2013, 2014 [37] Webber Wentzel [38]

Note3: firms listed alphabetically

YearFirm
2015 Webber Wentzel [38] [39]
2013 Webber Wentzel
2012 Webber Wentzel [40]
2011 Webber Wentzel [40]

Midsized law firms

Firms with more than 50 attorneys are generally viewed as midsize law firms. [41] [42]

NameFounded (South Africa)No. of offices (South Africa)No. of attorneys (South Africa)
Fairbridges Wertheim Becker 1812 [43] 2 (July 2020) [44] 51 (July 2020) [45]
Fasken Martineau South Africa (formerly Bell Dewar)1901 [46] 1 (July 2020) [47] 67 (July 2020) [48]
Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa 119223 (July 2020) [49] 75 (July 2020) [50]
Shepstone & Wylie 1872 [51] 5 (July 2020) [52] 69 (July 2020) [53]
Spoor & Fisher 1920 [54] 4 (July 2020) [55] 94 (July 2020) [56]
STBB - Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes 1900 [57] 13 (September 2022) [58] 111 (September 2022) [59]
Strauss Daly Incorporated 1984 9 (October 2021)52 (October 2021)

Note1: On 1 June 2011, Deneys Reitz Inc joined UK based firm Norton Rose. [60] Deneis Reitz, and then Norton Rose Fulbright, was formerly considered to form part of the big five law firms. Due to its decline, Werksmans, which was formerly outside of the big five law firms, took its place.


See also

Related Research Articles

Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1838, it is one of the five prestigious "Magic Circle" law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs over 3100 lawyers across 31 offices in 21 countries.

Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers worldwide headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Rose Fulbright</span> Law firm

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) is a British-American business law firm. It is the thirteenth-largest by headcount and 21st by revenue, with revenues of more than $2 billion. The law firm serves across a range of sectors — including consumer markets, energy, infrastructure and resources, financial institutions, life sciences and healthcare, technology and transport.

"Magic Circle" is an informal term describing the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms, which generally outperform the rest of the London law firms on profitability. The term has also been used to describe the most prestigious barristers' chambers in London. All of the 'Magic Circle' law firms and barristers' chambers specialise primarily in corporate law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harney Westwood & Riegels</span> Global offshore law firm

Harney Westwood & Riegels is a global offshore law firm that provides advice on British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Bermuda and Anguilla law to an international client base that includes law firms, financial institutions, investment funds, and private individuals. They have locations in major financial centers across Europe, Asia, America and Caribbean.

Dentons is the world's largest global law firm by number of lawyers and the 6th-largest law firm by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrs Chambers Westgarth</span> Australian commercial law firm

Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Moresby.

Reed Smith LLP is a global law firm with more than 1,500 lawyers in 30 offices throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The Seven Sisters refers to a historical collection of seven law firms with offices across Canada, the majority of which have head offices in Toronto, Ontario.

Webber Wentzel is an African law firm headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The firm operates in a collaborative alliance with global law firm, Linklaters.

Deneys Reitz was a large South African law firm based in Sandton, Johannesburg with offices in Cape Town and Durban. It was one of the "Big Five" law firms in South Africa.

Simon Davies is a British lawyer and businessman. He was appointed as the youngest ever firmwide managing partner at Linklaters in 2008. In 2016, he moved to Lloyds Banking Group to become the chief people, legal and strategy officer and a member of the group's executive committee.

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is an international commercial law firm based in Asia-Pacific. It is the largest international law firm in Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and more than 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beric John Croome</span>

Beric John Croome was a chartered accountant, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and one of South Africa's tax law scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebalu & Lule</span>

S&L Advocates is a Ugandan law firm headquartered in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. It is a leading business law firm that was founded in 1980 by Paulo Sebalu and Godfrey Serunkuma Lule. The firm is a member of DLA Piper and the DLA Piper Africa Group. The firm's advocates are members of various professional bodies, including the International Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the East African Law Society and the Uganda Law Society.

Chambers and Partners is a research firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that produces international rankings for the legal industry.

Mondo Mazwai is a South African legal practitioner. She is the first woman and black African to chair South Africa’s Competition Tribunal, a body set up under the Competition Act to adjudicate cases referred to it by the Competition Commission. On August 1, 2019, She was appointed into office by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

A delinquent director is a term used under Section 162 of the South African Companies Act 71 of 2008, which allows shareholders and other stakeholders to apply to the court to declare a director of a company delinquent.

In 2019, the top 50 Dutch law firms had around 4,476 attorneys and the top 30 law firms had around 183 notaries and 527 candidate notaries. According to the Chambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Houthoff, Loyens & Loeff and Stibbe. Every year advocatie.nl publishes a list of the 50 biggest law firms in headcount.

References

  1. Law Firms of South Africa: Webber Wentzel, Spoor and Fisher, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENSafrica). ASIN   1157393721. Big Five Law Firms
  2. "Africa's top Corporate Lawyers Retrieved 4 March 2010". Africanbusinessreview.co.za. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  3. "Assets" (PDF). Dnaeconomics.com.
  4. Bowmans Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.bowmanslaw.com/contact-us/
  5. Bowmans Who we are Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.bowmanslaw.com/our-firm/company-profile/
  6. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Contact Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/contact/
  7. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr About Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/about/
  8. Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.ensafrica.com/contact-us/
  9. Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs About Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.ensafrica.com/about-us/
  10. "The Firm: a Biography of Webber Wentzel Bowens" (PDF). Sabar.co.za. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Webber Wentzel Retrieved 31 December 2010
  12. Webber Wentzel Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.webberwentzel.com/Pages/Contact-us.aspx
  13. Chambers and Partners Webber Wentzel Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/webber-wentzel-global-2:3753
  14. "Careers | About Us | Werksmans Attorneys - Werksmans Attorneys". Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  15. Werksmans Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.werksmans.com/contact/
  16. Werksmans Our People Retrieved 9 July 2020https://www.werksmans.com/our-people/?rl=0&pr=0&lc=0&tl=&sw=ALL
  17. Michael West (7 August 2015). "DLA Piper ends South African alliance as it eyes Jo'burg launch for first foray into Africa". Legal Business. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. "Webber Wentzel". Webberwentzel.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Webber Wentzel Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/webber-wentzel-global-2:3753
  20. Chambers & Partners Bowmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/bowmans-global-2:2677
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chambers & Partners Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/cliffe-dekker-hofmeyr-global-2:3733
  22. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners ENSafrica Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/ensafrica-global-2:132639
  23. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Werksmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/werksmans-attorneys-global-2:3754
  24. 1 2 Chambers & Partners Allen & Overy Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/allen-overy-llp-global-2:7
  25. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Clyde & Co Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/clyde-co-llp-global-2:85
  26. 1 2 3 Chambers & Partners Spoor & Fisher Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/spoor-fisher-global-2:22363558
  27. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Norton Rose Fulbright Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/norton-rose-fulbright-global-2:309
  28. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Fasken Martineau Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/fasken-global-2:3695
  29. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Herbert Smith Freehills Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/herbert-smith-freehills-global-2:189
  30. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Shepstone & Wylie Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/shepstone-wylie-global-2:2889
  31. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Backer Mckenzie Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/baker-mckenzie-global-2:2692
  32. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners DLA Piper Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/dla-piper-llp-global-2:22401592
  33. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Fluxmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/fluxmans-global-2:1914
  34. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Knowles Husain Lindsay Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/knowles-husain-lindsay-inc-global-2:131820
  35. 1 2 3 4 Chambers & Partners Lawtons Africa Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/lawtons-africa-global-2:23190829
  36. "The Latest Legal News, Research and Legal Profiles – Who's Who Legal". Whoswholegal.com.
  37. "Who's Who Legal: 100 – The Latest Legal Community News, Research and Legal Profiles – Who's Who Legal". Whoswholegal.com.
  38. 1 2 "Country Awards – The Latest Legal News and Law Firm Information – Who's Who Legal". Whoswholegal.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  39. "Webber Wentzel". Webberwentzel.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  40. 1 2 "Cambrient Contentsuite Login". Webberwentzel.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  41. Michael H. Trotter, Profit and the Practice of Law: What's Happened to the Legal Profession (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1997), 46.
  42. "THE 2010 MIDSIZE HOT LIST – National Law Journal". Law.com.
  43. Fairbridges Wertheim Becker About us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/about-us/#history
  44. Fairbridges Wertheim Becker Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/contact-us/
  45. Fairbridges Wertheim Becker People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/our-people/
  46. "Our History Retrieved 6 March 2011". Belldewar.com.
  47. Fasken Martineau Offices Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fasken.com/en/offices#contact-us
  48. Fasken Martineau People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fasken.com/en/people/lawyer#sort=%40flastname75392%20ascending&f:_48DFBF78-54F8-4FEC-9C91-A346C4EAB4B0=[Johannesburg]
  49. Norton Rose Fulbright Global Coverage. Retrieved 9 July 2020
  50. Norton Rose Fulbright People Search. Retrieved 9 July 2020
  51. "Expert Guides – Page moved". Expert Guides.
  52. Shepstone & Wylie Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.wylie.co.za/contact/
  53. Shepstone & Wylie All Lawyers Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.wylie.co.za/lawyers
  54. "History of Spoor & Fisher Retrieved 6 March 2011". Spoor.com.
  55. Spoor & Fisher Offices Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.spoor.com/en/offices/
  56. Spoor & Fisher People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.spoor.com/en/people/#slide-414=0
  57. "Welcome to STBB - We deal with every legal matter". Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  58. STTB Contact Retrieved 14 September 2022 https://stbb.co.za/contact/
  59. STTB People Retrieved 14 September 2022 https://stbb.co.za/find-a-lawyer/
  60. "Norton Rose Group - Ogilvy Renault and Deneys Reitz to join Norton Rose Group". Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2010. Ogilvy Renault and Deneys Reitz to join Norton Rose Group Retrieved 31 December 2010