The Johannesburg team joining Clyde & Co are Daniel le Roux and Rashad Ismail as partners, and Warren Hiepner as consultant. Arthur James and Max Ebrahim are the partners in Cape Town.
The offices will initially cover dispute resolution and all classes of insurance business. The practice will open with two partners and a consultant in Johannesburg and two partners in Cape Town. The firm plans to hire a further ten lawyers in Johannesburg and three lawyers in Cape Town for the launch.
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. I would particularly like to thank the team and Maurice Kenton (Clyde & Co partner London) for their vision and for their commitment to achieving our opening in South Africa."
Kenton commented: "The South African insurance and legal market is highly sophisticated, while still having considerable growth potential. Clients want to work with genuine sector specialists and Clyde & Co's commitment to providing such a platform to their core sectors, worldwide, is unmatched. The firm has offices across the globe, which is consistent with the international nature of our clients' business, and this provides a great opportunity for our partners and lawyers in South Africa to act for a strong domestic and international client base."
The South African offices will be based at SALA House in Sandton, Johannesburg and the Convention Tower in Cape Town.
