Gareth joined Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr as a Candidate Attorney in 2013 and has gained experience in the Dispute Resolution, Environmental and Corporate & Commercial practices. Gareth was promoted to Senior Associate in 2018.

Dispute Resolution and Litigation

Gareth is part of a team which specialises in various aspects of commercial litigation, public interest litigation and in providing on-going legal advice for some of South Africa's leading major petro-chemical, telecommunication and media companies.

Gareth's experience in this field includes:

• researching and drafting a legal opinion for a major telecommunications company on various aspects of cross-border legal- and regulatory compliance in respect of its international business operations;
• represented clients in a neighbour law dispute; and assisted in representing various clients in various matters including civil and
• criminal liability of the media, potential director liability for alleged breach of fiduciary duties, claims regarding unjustified enrichment for the fraudulent activities of employees, product liability claims, contractual disputes, personal injury claims and debt collection matters.

Environmental, health and safety and regulatory legal compliance

Gareth has also gained experience in the highly specialised field areas of environmental, health and safety and regulatory legal compliance for clients drawn from a broad range of industries, including the mining, agricultural, energy (including renewable energy), banking, property development, waste management, petrochemicals, forestry, pulp and paper and manufacturing sectors.

Gareth's experience in the field of environmental, health and safety and regulatory legal compliance primarily includes environmental litigation and administrative appeals. These include being part of a team that:

• successfully represented a diamond mining company in interdict and review proceedings instituted in respect of the grant of Mineral Rights;
• successfully represented an international animal genetics company in an administrative appeal lodged against the grant of an Environmental Authorisation in its favour;
• is representing a major petrochemical company in a R10 000 000.00 civil action for recovery of damages incurred from unlawful waste disposal on its property; and
• drafting and lodging numerous objections to the grant of prospecting and mining rights for clients from the agricultural, forestry and property development industries.

Gareth's experience regarding environmental, health and safety and regulatory legal compliance includes the following:

• legal opinions;
• due diligence investigations;
• ISO 14001 audits and advise on ISO 14001 implementation;
• environmental impact assessments;
• advising on health and safety, land use, heritage law; and
• assisting a team advising on projects-based transactions (including acting for both lenders and project developers regarding financing and environmental compliance for various Independent Power Producer projects). 

Gareth has also researched and assisted in advising an international Non-Profit Organisation on applicable legislation governing the endorsement of certain ectoparasiticide products for a national conservation Project.

• The Legal 500 EMEA 2020 recommended Gareth as a rising star for dispute resolution.

Education

• LLB, University of Cape Town