Clyde & Co has launched two offices in South Africa with the hire of a five-lawyer, four-partner team from Linklaters’ local ally, Webber Wentzel.
The new offices will be based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, headed by Daniel Le Roux, who currently heads Webber Wentzel’s insurance and legal liability practice.
Le Roux will be based in Johannesburg alongside partner Rashad Ismail and consultant Warren Hiepner, while partners Arthur James and Max Ebrahim will be based in Cape Town.
The offices will initially cover dispute resolution and insurance business and the top 15 firm plans to hire a further ten lawyers in Johannesburg and three lawyers in Cape Town.
Senior partner James Burns said: ‘Opening offices in South Africa has been on our agenda for the last 18 months. As with all our launches, we look for the ideal combination of a first class team and markets that strongly feature our core sectors. South Africa is not only the most developed economy in the continent, but it also provides a strong base for activity across the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.
‘We are delighted that Daniel and his team will be joining us. We see them as the strongest team in the market and one we are very much looking forward to working with. The offices will focus on dispute resolution and insurance in the first instance – building on our global capabilities in both of these markets.’
Linklaters set up an exclusive alliance with Webber Wentzel at the end of 2012, which came into effect last year.
Clyde & Co’s launch follows Hogan Lovells announcement last December that it is entering the South African market via a tie-up with Routledge Modise.
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
