Legal profession
- Michael Arnheim (1944–), London Barrister and author
- George Bizos (1927–2020), human rights advocate, represented Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia Trial
- Amina Cachalia (1930–2013), anti-Apartheid activist, women's rights activist, and politician
- Arthur Chaskalson (1931–2012), President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa
- Azhar Cachalia (1956– ), Judge at the South African Supreme Court of Appeal; anti-apartheid activist; a founding member of the United Democratic Front; served as Secretary for Safety and Security
- Beric John Croome (1960–2019), Advocate of the High Court of South Africa; CA (SA); taxpayers' rights legal pioneer; completed a Higher Diploma in Tax Law (cum laude) at Wits in 1989; awarded the Edward Nathan Friedland Tax Prize for the year; 2002 nominee for the University's Convocation Honour Award for his contribution to commerce and industry
- John Dugard (1936– ), professor of international law and writer [3]
- Richard Goldstone (1938– ), judge and international war crimes prosecutor; considered one of several liberal judges who issued key rulings that systematically undermined Apartheid
- Anthony Gubbay (1932– ), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe
- Nicholas Haysom (1952– ), diplomat and UN official; Chief Legal Adviser to President Nelson Mandela; until May 1994, an associate professor of law and deputy director at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at Wits
- Bob Hepple (1934–2015), legal academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights
- Joel Joffe, Baron Joffe (1932–2017), lawyer and peer in the House of Lords; defence attorney for the leadership of the African National Congress at the Rivonia Trial
- Sydney Kentridge (1922– ), advocate and Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court
- Dikgang Moseneke (1947– ), Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand and Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
- Mervyn E. King (1937– ), former Justice of the Supreme Court of South Africa and director of the Global Reporting Initiative
- Jody Kollapen (1957– ), Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, former commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission, and former head of Lawyers for Human Rights
- Thuli Madonsela (1962– ), advocate, professor of law, and former Public Protector of South Africa
- Ismail Mahomed (1931–2000), appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1994; was made Chief Justice in 1998, a position he held until his death in 2000
- Bheki Maphalala, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Eswatini
- Margaret H. Marshall (1944– ), Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
- Lazar Sidelsky (1911-2002), Attorney that hired and mentored Nelson Mandela
- Michael Sutherland (1954– ), Australian politician and former Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
- Nomatemba Tambo, diplomat, politician, and High Commissioner of South Africa to the United Kingdom
- Charles Theodore Te Water, Honorary Doctor of Law (1955)
- I. India Thusi, Law professor at Indiana University Bloomington
- Johan D. van der Vyver, I.T. Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Emory University School of Law, formerly a professor of law at Wits
