News

Industries

Companies

Jobs

Events

People

Video

Audio

Galleries

My Biz

Submit content

My Account

Advertise with us

Law Practice News South Africa

News Legal Law Practice

African Legal Award winners 2024

The 2024 African Legal Awards, hosted by Law.com International, celebrated the continent's top in-house and private law firms at a gala ceremony at the Houghton Hotel, Johannesburg on 6 September.

This year, Bowmans walked away with seven awards including the coveted title of African Law Firm of the Year, while VdA - Vieira de Almeida was awarded International Law Firm of the Year. DLA Piper Africa took home four awards, having been named African Law Firm of the Year for East, West and Southern Africa, as well as African Network/Alliance of the Year. Webber Wentzel also won four awards, including the Innovation Award. Norton Rose Fulbright and Baker McKenzie took three awards each.

Two new categories this year honoured Women Leaders in Law - In-House/Vendor, as well as in Private Practice. These were awarded to Seun Timi-Koleolu of Pavestones Legal, and Lili Nupen of Nupen Staude de Vries respectively.

Former chief justice, Raymond Zondo, was named the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

"Competition was fierce; and every shortlisted firm or individual ... has shown skill, determination and flair in getting this far. And when it came to selecting the winners, our distinguished panel of judges devoted months to meticulously reviewing each submission, and applying the highest level of care and discernment to select the overall winners," said Habiba Cullen-Jaffar, reporter for Law.com International.

Bowmans’ chairman and senior partner, Ezra Davids, thanked the African Legal Awards for recognising the firm's contribution: "We are very proud of this recognition of our commitment to Africa and our position as the pre-eminent law firm on the continent. It’s a testament to the value of our ‘one firm’ strategy and approach to growing sustainably in support of our clients."

The full list of winners for the 2024 African Legal Award:

In-House Awards

CategoryWinner
Legal Department of the Year - Small TeamPepsiCo
Legal Department of the Year - Large TeamNational Bank of Egypt
Legal Department of the Year - Banking & FinanceInfrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit)
General Counsel of the YearCarina Wessels, Alexforbes
In-House Rising Star AwardMubeen Sablay, PepsiCo
Risk & Compliance Department of the YearRoche

Private Practice Awards

CategoryWinner
African Law Firm of the YearBowmans
African Law Firm of the Year – East AfricaDLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – North AfricaDLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – Southern AfricaDLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – West AfricaThiam & Associés
African Network / Alliance of the YearDLA Piper Africa
Banking & Finance Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*Bowmans
Banking & Finance Team of the Year - Medium Sized FirmDuale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe
Capital Markets Team of the YearBaker McKenzie
Competition and Regulatory Team of the YearWebber Wentzel
Employment Law Team of the YearNorton Rose Fulbright
Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Team of the Year - Large Firm*Norton Rose Fulbright
Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Team of the Year - Medium Sized FirmLnP Beyond Legal
International Law Firm of the YearVdA - Vieira de Almeida
IP Team of the YearWebber Wentzel
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*Norton Rose Fulbright
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year - Medium Sized FirmLnP Beyond Legal
M&A Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*ALN | Anjarwalla & Khanna
M&A Team of the Year - Medium Sized FirmThiam & Associés
Partner of the Year – East AfricaPeter Kasanda, Clyde & Co
Partner of the Year – North AfricaKamal Nasrollah, Baker McKenzie
Partner of the Year – Southern AfricaRyan Wessels, Bowmans
Partner of the Year – West AfricaAdeleke Alex-Adedipe, Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe
Private Equity Team of the YearBowmans
Private Practice Most Promising Newcomer AwardPuleng Mothabeng, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
Private Practice Rising Star AwardAriana Issaias, Bowmans
Property and Construction Team of the YearBowmans
Restructuring Team of the YearBowmans
Specialist Law Firm of the YearLopes Attorneys
Tax Team of the YearWebber Wentzel
TMT Team of the YearBaker McKenzie
Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the YearHogan Lovells

*A large firm is classified by being top 25 in the Africa Top 50 or in the Global 100

Awards Open to both Private Practice & In-House

CategoryWinner
Best Use of TechnologySheria Kiganjani
CSR, Diversity, Transformation and Economic Empowerment AwardLighthouse Law
ESG Initiative of the YearSustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Legal Task Force
Innovation AwardWebber Wentzel
Women Leaders in Law - In-House/VendorSeun Timi-Koleolu, Pavestones Legal
Women Leaders in Law - Private PracticeLili Nupen, Nupen Staude de Vries
Lifetime Achievement AwardChief Justice Raymond Zondo

Let's do Biz