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BusinessDay www.businessday.co.za Thursday 14 November 2024
INSIGHTS
BEST LAWYERS 2025 Sponsored content
Best efforts from SA’s best lawyers in the spotlight Legal eagles •recognised by
their peers for professional excellence, writes Lynette Dicey
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total of 48 South African lawyers will receive a prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” award from Best Lawyers 2025. Established in 1983 as a listing of the best attorneys in the US, Best Lawyers has evolved into one of the most respected global guides to the legal profession in 75 countries
around the world, including in SA. It is currently the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession internationally. For more than four decades, Best Lawyers has been committed to presenting the extraordinary accomplishments of those in the legal profession with completely unbiased legal referrals from the best attorneys in the world. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Its process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Lawyer of the Year honourees are recognised for their high overall feedback
within specific practice areas and metropolitan regions. All lawyers in the previous edition of Best Lawyers are automatically nominated into their recognised practice areas for the next peer-review process and must garner sufficient positive feedback to be highlighted in the next edition. Previously listed lawyers are invited to participate in the voting. Each year, the Best Lawyers in SA lists attorneys recognised by their peers in the legal industry for their professional excellence in more than 50 practice areas. For 2025, a total of 974 lawyers in 64 practice areas across four metropolitan areas — Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth — have been
recognised. Not surprisingly, Johannesburg is the metro with the most listed Best Lawyers. Lawyer of the Year is awarded annually to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer feedback for a special practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognised as the Lawyer of the Year for a speciality and metropolitan location per edition. This year, the top practice areas are corporate law, litigation, intellectual property law, mergers and acquisitions law and labour and employment law. Attorneys are nominated for consideration and then evaluated by their peers based on their professional expertise. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo an
974
lawyers in 64 practice areas across four metropolitan areas — Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth — have been recognised for 2025
FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES, BEST LAWYERS HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO PRESENTING THE EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THOSE IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION
The only accolade that counts isƥ TRACK RECORD
authentication process to ensure they are currently practising and in good standing before inclusion in Best Lawyers. Law Firm of the Year awards recognise a single top firm for its work in a specific legal practice area. ENSafrica and Webber Wentzel were the big winners for 2025, each winning two awards. ENSafrica was voted the Law Firm of the Year for banking and finance law and tax law. Webber Wentzel was voted the Law Firm of the Year for corporate law and mining law. The lawyers listed in Best Lawyers represent the top 4% of lawyers in SA, with 136 lawyers first-time awardees. To see the full list, log on to https://www.businesslive.co.za/ bd/national/2024-11-13lawyers-of-the-year-2025/
Track record and outcomes set firms apart Anthony Norton, MD at boutique law firm Nortons Inc, has been recognised for the third consecutive year in competition and antitrust law and for the second time in regulatory law. He says what differentiates Nortons Inc is track record and experience. “Too many lawyers and law firms publicise accolades and awards they have won, but seldom reveal proper statistics on outcomes in relation to regulatory processes and cases. What differentiates Nortons Inc from other law firms in our key areas of focus is our track record and outcomes. We have an excellent success rate in securing merger approvals for our clients and equally impressive success rates in
CLIENTS REMAIN COST SENSITIVE. IT’S IMPORTANT THEY FEEL THEY ARE GETTING VALUE FOR MONEY FOR LEGAL SERVICES
Left: Anthony Norton. Right: Hayley Kellermann.
opposing mergers on behalf of clients. These outcomes are a product of experience and expertise, which is very difficult to replicate.” Norton says corporate clients should be more interested in track record and outcomes than the size of the firm or metrics that are not directly linked to successful results. In the past, Nortons Inc has been involved in interesting competition litigation such as for eMedia in relation to the broadcast of national sporting events and the retention of various eMedia television channels on the DStv platform.
“That litigation has been successfully resolved but raised interesting conceptual issues from a competition law perspective,” says Norton. The firm has also been involved in some groundbreaking engagements with the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) in terms of reaching settlements on behalf of corporate clients and recently successfully represented Freedom under Law in challenging the appointment by the National Assembly of former judge John Hlophe to the Judicial Services Commission. Norton says clients remain cost sensitive. “It’s important they feel they are getting value for money for legal services. Our key imperative is to ensure we obtain successful outcomes and the money we spend on legal matters is commensurate with the outcomes we achieve.” One of the biggest challenges facing the profession, he believes, is maintaining consistent results in the face of increasing pressure to turn around work product in very short time periods and often under significant pressure.
Hayley Kellermann, an associate at Smiedt & Associates, agrees that a firm’s ability to achieve positive outcomes for clients should be a key consideration among prospective clients. She says Smiedt & Associates, a boutique firm, distinguishes itself through a highly responsive, hands-on approach, offering a swift turnaround that lets clients know they are a top priority.
Profession is ‘mired in an ethical crisis’ Maintaining the ethics of the legal profession in the face of increasing disregard for professional standards is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the legal profession, says Anthony Norton, MD of law firm Nortons Inc. He is not alone in his concerns. Krish Govender, a legal practitioner at Shamla Pather Attorneys in Durban, the former co-chair of the Law Society of SA (LSSA) and the current chairperson of the LSSA’s Ethics Committee, says the legal profession is mired in an ethical crisis as it faces both real and existential crises. This ethical crisis is not unique to SA, he argues. The International Bar Association (IBA), the largest global grouping of lawyers, “is distinctly the voice of corporate lawyers”. He points to the dispute with Chine over Hong Kong as an example. “It is not difficult to suggest that where the violations of human rights in pursuit of profits occur, only muted voices, if any, are raised from multinational corporate law firms. This is glaring in many parts of mineral rich Africa, the oil rich parts of the Middle East and elsewhere.” In SA, legal practices have not been immune from the economic challenges facing the country. Many firms, says Govender, have had to rationalise their operations and retrench staff to maintain profit
margins. Many smaller, mainly black-owned, firms are struggling to survive. “One unfortunate consequence of this is the negative impact on ethical standards within the profession,” he says, adding that some have succumbed to temptation and stolen from their trust accounts to survive financially. Govender says the code of conduct for legal practitioners, candidate legal practitioners
and juristic entities in SA lacks the serious philosophical, conscience and moral roots necessary for the absorption of legal ethics. “The philosophical and historical roots are matters that should form part of a mandatory module for law studies in LLB degrees.” He maintains that there are serious gaps in the legal education under the LLB law degree. “It is shameful that as of 2016, only three universities
were engaged in teaching, or intended to teach, ethics via full course mandatory modules. The majority of law deans have failed the legal profession and society in understanding their roles in producing wellrounded law graduates who will contribute to building a better SA and who will help strengthen our constitutional democracy and the rule of law, essential for a society rooted in equality and justice.”
“We’re not just surface-level generalists, we make it our business to master the nuances of each case, ensuring we secure the best possible outcomes for our clients. “Our firm has continued to raise the standard for client service, consistently delivering positive results for our clients, big and small, whether it be complex, high-stakes or straightforward matters.” She says one of the biggest challenges facing the firm is delays caused by state departments, an industry-wide grievance that affects the entire legal profession. “The wheels of not only justice, but also administration, often turn slowly, creating obstacles that can hinder efficiency. Our team has become adept at keeping the pressure on, making sure each case stays on track and advances steadily instead of falling into a backlog.”
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NORTONS INC
WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, IT PAYS TO KNOW YOUR CARDS. YOUR WINNING HAND IN LAW.
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universities in SA — as of 2016 — were engaged in teaching, or intended to teach, ethics via full course mandatory modules
Proud to be part of South Africa’s Best Lawyers. Congratulations to all the other winners and thank you to the jury for your time.
KHL partners have been recognised by Best Lawyers in litigation; corporate law; real estate law; arbitration and mediation and insolvency and reorganisation law.
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