Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr hosts DLA Piper African Training Academy

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The Southern African Training Academy in Johannesburg involved a series of workshops and training sessions for lawyers from member firms. Associates from South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Ghana attended the event.

The academy forms part of the overall training strategy of the DLA Piper Africa Group and focuses on training and skills development for junior professionals, in addition to networking opportunities.

DLA Piper Africa prioritises training and, as such, invests considerable time and resources in training and skills development. This takes the form of webinars, informal workshops, client training sessions and formal training academies for professionals.

Business development

The three day academy also included a training sessions on business communication skills and a business development segment, presented by DLA Piper Africa Group's chairman, Chris Ewing, and Michael Whitaker, chief operating officer at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. Other topics included due diligence investigations, emerging markets and public-private-partnerships, guarantees and indemnities, sector specific training focusing on hospitality and leisure and a global banking and finance update. The academy concluded with a comprehensive training session on commercial drafting.

"We value learning, training and skills development as an important part of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's corporate culture," Monique du Preez, director of Knowledge Management at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said. "Against this background, it is important for us to arrange and facilitate formal Training Academies. We invest considerable resources in events of this nature, in addition to developing comprehensive training material. The training benefits not only our associates, but also colleagues from across the continent. This provides a unique opportunity to share best practice, experience and skill on a regular basis."

In addition to the East African Training Academy in Nairobi in March 2014, and the Southern African Training Academy in Johannesburg in June 2014, the next training event on the continent will focus on specific sectors and industries, i.e. power/energy. This is scheduled to take place in Uganda later this year.