Legal 500 EMEA 2018 recognises Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s client-focussed approach

Legal 500 assesses the strengths of law firms in over 100 jurisdictions, including South Africa, with rankings based on a series of criteria, highlighting the most cutting edge and innovative advice provided to corporate counsel. ‘We are grateful to our clients for recognising that CDH is responding strategically and innovatively to the changing economic and business landscape’ say Brent Williams, CDH’s CEO. ‘By deepening our understanding of the industries and the market environments in which our clients operate, we have become more than legal advisors – we are pivotal business partners.’ 

Several of CDH’s practitioners received the esteemed ‘Leading Individuals’ accolade, namely Ludwig Smith (Banking & Finance), Chris Charter (Competition), Willem Jacobs (Commercial, Corporate/M&A), Jurg van Dyk (Construction), Tim Fletcher (Dispute Resolution), Attie Pretorius (Real Estate), William Midgley (Real Estate) and Emil Brincker (Tax). 

Thabile continues, ‘While we value this market recognition, both for our firm and our individual experts, the real win lies in the confirmation of our strong client partnerships.’ 

The latest edition of Legal EMEA ranks 10 of CDH’s practices, describing the firm’s Finance & Banking team as ‘world-class’ with ‘high levels of expertise and integrity’ and its Competition team as boasting ‘very good industry knowledge’ with an ability to work ‘quickly to identify the key facts in each transaction’. CDH’s Construction team ‘remains a leader in non-contentious work’, according to the guide’s editorial.

Following CDH’s Corporate & Commercial team’s unprecedented and repeat success in DealMakers, the latest edition of Legal 500 EMEA recognised the practice as a ‘superb’ team that is ‘responsive, knowledgeable and easy to work with’. The guide also singled out the team’s Practice Head, Willem Jacobs for his ‘great personal skills’. Similarly, Tim Fletcher, CDH’s Head of the Dispute Resolution, was acknowledged as ‘commercial, level-headed and smart from a strategy perspective’, leading a team that ‘remains at the forefront of major disputes’.

The latest Legal 500 EMEA acknowledges the impressive breadth of experience offered by CDH’s Employment team, including its ‘expertise in transport and logistics, mining, public sector, financial services, mining and retail work and continually impresses in retrenchment exercises, restructurings strikes and collective bargaining’. The guide describes the firm’s Mining team as ‘professional’, ‘sound’, with an understanding of the industry and notes the firm’s Projects & Infrastructure team’s prominence in energy and oil and gas projects.

Legal 500 EMEA also recognises CDH’s Real Estate team as ‘excellent’, with ‘great knowledge’ and providing ‘focussed attention’ to clients and praised the firm’s Tax team, headed by Emil Brincker - regarded as ‘number one’ and renowned as ‘the leading tax authority in South Africa’ – for attracting ‘a range of financial institutional and corporate clients’ and advising ‘on a series of major corporate restructurings.’