People and places - behind the successful growth of Cox Yeats Attorneys

Freddie Terblanche, newly appointed partner at Cox Yeats' Cape Town office

“We are delighted that the firm has achieved its strategy of having a presence in the country’s three major economic hubs,” said Andrew Clark, Cox Yeats’ managing partner, “and we are confident that our Cape Town office will match our successes in Durban and Johannesburg as we strive to ensure that Cox Yeats remains the law firm of choice in South Africa.”

Freddie Terblanche, a well-regarded litigation attorney with more than 15 years’ experience, will be joining Cox Yeats as a partner in the Cape Town office. Terblanche's primary focus covers general litigation, alternate dispute resolution, insolvency, business rescue and insurance law. Over the course of his career, he has advised various multinational, listed, and blue-chip companies, as well as high net worth individuals, in complex and large-scale matters.

Here, Clark and Terblanche share some insight into the firm's strategy and the secret behind the successful launch of its Johannesburg branch, despite the trials and tribulations of the pandemic.

Congratulations on the expansion and welcome to Cape Town! What has been the driving force behind the decision?

Andrew Clark, Cox Yeats’ managing partner

Andrew Clark: The driving force has been to have a presence in each of the major economic hubs of South Africa: Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, which aligns with the national and international focus of the firm.

The advance of remote working has also driven the relocation of many personnel and businesses to Cape Town and we recognised that a presence in the Mother City was key to ensure not only the continued expansion of Cox Yeats, but also that we are best placed to provide seamless services to our clients, many of which have a national footprint. The opening of the Cape Town office also speaks to our consistent efforts to attract and retain top talent within the legal profession as it is hard to ignore the ‘semi-gration’ to Cape Town as employees strive for a better work-life balance.

Your Gauteng base was established in Sandton in 2020 - quite a shocker of a year for business as a whole. How did Cox Yeats weather that particular storm?

Clark: The year 2020 was difficult and challenging for all industries and is one that will go down in the history books. However, Cox Yeats was able to pivot and adapt to match the changing environment and clients’ needs by smoothly transitioning to having everyone fully set up to work remotely from home from the outset – no matter where they were based.

In addition, our new Johannesburg partners, along with their professional staff, were able to harmoniously integrate with the firm due to their shared dedication and commitment to hard work and to providing the best possible legal advantage to their clients, despite the trying times.

Employee wellness is also one of Cox Yeats’ key focuses, having been recently recognised for its achievements in this area during the Standard Bank Top Business Awards, and as a firm we ensured that we used the benefits of technology to stay connected.

What did you learn from that expansion and experience that will make this an easier process?

Clark: The opening of the Johannesburg office has given us the comfort of confirming that a firm’s success is not due to its location but the strength of its people. When we opened in Johannesburg, we had a formidable group of attorneys join us, which saw that office, and the firm, rise from strength to strength and we are eager to see what the opening of our Cape Town office will bring.

What services will you be offering through the Cape Town office?

Freddie Terblanche: Cox Yeats is a leading commercial law firm, offering a full range of legal services with a national and international focus and our approach in Cape Town will be no different. Clients will have access to our full service offering, which includes business law; competition law; construction, engineering and infrastructure law; insurance law, corporate mergers and acquisitions; insolvency and business rescue; maritime and international trade law; property law and conveyancing; empowerment and transformation; litigation and alternative dispute resolution; medical schemes; natural resources and energy; trusts and estate planning.

As a national law firm, we render a range of legal services to our clients across provincial borders, regardless of location.

How will your presence in the Mother City benefit your existing clients?

Clark and Terblanche: The opening of a Cape Town office has achieved the firm’s strategy of having a presence in the country’s three major economic hubs (Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town) to ensure that we can provide seamless legal services to our clients. Most of our clients have a national footprint and we are now able to ensure that, along with using the benefits of technology to connect remotely, we have a dedicated hub in Cape Town to ensure that we are best placed to assist with all their legal needs.

What is your five-year vision for the Cape Town office and for the company in general? Could Bloemfontein or elsewhere expect a Cox Yeats office soon?

Clark: We hope to see our Cape Town office achieve the same resounding success of our Durban and Johannesburg offices and for it to be a tool which has enabled our further expansion into the Cape Town market and surrounds.

The continued growth of Cox Yeats, since our opening in 1964, has been in large part due to our dynamic and flexible approach with which we tackle both our legal matters as well as the environment in which we operate. This type of thinking means that even though Cox Yeats is not presently considering the opening of another office, nothing is truly ‘off the table’ so to speak.