We support clients in all aspects of insurance law locally, across the rest of Africa, and abroad, including:

Dispute Resolution

• Complex insurance-related litigation
• Disputes over insurance and reinsurance cover
• Guarantee disputes
• Claims handling, monitoring and coordination
• Drafting of arbitration clauses and agreements
• Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance, fiduciary, professional liability, and fidelity cover
• Product and general liability cover
• Environmental liability cover
• Claims related to insurance and reinsurance intermediaries
• Class action proceedings
• Cover and contribution litigation
• Cyber insurance and forensic investigations
• D&O and professional liability cover and defence
• Products liability defence
• Construction insurance
• Environmental claims
• Mining infrastructure claims
• Business interruption
• Suits between health insurers and providers
• Disability or regulatory issues arising out of personnel policies
• Restructuring and crisis management response

Corporate

• Corporate insurance mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings and expansion into new markets
• Capital market raising
• Structuring and implementing insurance and reinsurance transactions
• Drafting insurance guarantees
• Distribution, outsourcing and other commercial contracts
• Cell captive arrangements
• Broad-based black economic empowerment

Regulatory

• Compliance with relevant legislation and codes
• Drafting policies
• New product development and structuring
• Provision of opinions
• Policies for mining rehabilitation provisions

Our recent corporate insurance transactions, dispute and advisory work include:

• Structuring of transactions and actions, including fundamental transactions and corporate actions, inclusive of drafting of relevant sale, transfer regulatory and company secretarial documentation
• Structuring of cooperative arrangements between FSPs and non-regulated partners and amongst themselves, including cell captive insurance and shariah-law compliant arrangements
• Preparation, execution and implementation of industry specific documentation and agreements such as policies, binder-, intermediary services- and administration agreements
• Assisting financial sector clients with the resolution of operational and financial related insurance considerations, including corporate recapitalisation requirements
• Assist in and prepare relevant documentation for purposes of compliance, exemptions and deviations
• Advising insurers and intermediaries as well as other clients with commercial insurance related requirements, including restructuring of relationships in order to comply with regulation or to de-regularise the relationship structure
• Assist various local and foreign clients in the long-term, short-term, captive and cell captive insurance sector in regard to the aforesaid and otherwise, and whether from a product supply-marketing-, selling, servicing, leads referral and regulatory perspective
• Provision of legal opinions for financial services sector clients, including statutory and regulatory compliance opinions
• Establishment of new life insurers.
• Advising a leading insurance company on a defamation action
• Advising a major administrative entity in relation to litigation proceedings in a personal injury claim
• We regularly assist underwriters of commercial indemnity policies with advice on the merits of marginal claims and in defending subsequent litigation

Sector Rankings

• Chambers Global 2018 - 2022 ranked our practice in Band 2: Insurance

Ranked Practitioners

• Roy Barendse specialises in insurance-related disputes.
  
  
• Tim Fletcher is the National Practice Head for the Dispute Resolution team. Chambers Global 2022 ranked Tim in Band 2 for Dispute Resolution and from 2019-2021 he was ranked in Band 3. Chambers Global 2015–2018 ranked Tim in Band 4 for dispute resolution. The Legal 500 EMEA 2016–2021 recommended him as a leading individual for dispute resolution and recommended him from 2013–2016. The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2015 identified Tim as being among the world’s leading asset recovery lawyers. He was named as the exclusive South African winner of the ILO Client Choice Awards 2017–2018 in the litigation category. Who’s Who Legal 2015–2019 identified Tim as one of the world’s leading Insurance & Reinsurance lawyers.
  
  
• Rachel Kelly focuses on corporate and commercial law, including M&A with a focus on the insurance industry. Rachel was recommended in Legal 500 EMEA 2019-2021 for her work in Commercial, Corporate/M&A.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2022 ranked Johan as Senior Stateperson. In 2021 Johan Latsky in Band 4 for corporate/M&A and from 2011–2020, he was ranked in Band 3. Chambers Global 2012–2021 ranked him in Band 1 for capital markets: equity. The Legal 500 EMEA 2012–2021 recommended Johan for commercial, corporate/M&A. Who’s Who Legal 2012–2013 identified Johan as a leading lawyer for corporate/M&A. ILO Client Choice Awards 2014 named him as the exclusive winner of the M&A category in South Africa.
  
  
• Allan Reid is the Sector Head for the Mining & Minerals team. Chambers Global 2017-2022 ranked Allan in Band 2 for Energy & Natural Resources: Mining. Chambers Global 2012–2016 ranked him in Band 3 for Energy & Natural Resources: Mining. The Legal 500 EMEA 2011 recommended Allan for mining as a Highly Regarded Individual. The Legal 500 EMEA 2012–2019 recommended him for Mining and in 2020-2021, he was listed as a Leading Individual: Mining. Allan was ranked as a leading lawyer by Who’s Who Legal: Mining 2018–2019.
  
  
• The Legal 500 EMEA 2020-2021 recommended Tim Smit as a next generation lawyer for dispute resolution.
  
  
• Charl Williams is an expert in commercial law with significant experience in insurance regulatory work.