Who we are

Webber Wentzel is a leading law firm in Africa, being consistently ranked at the top by a diversity of international ratings agencies in 2012 including:

• Chambers Global, which named 38 of our lawyers as leaders in their respective areas of expertise and ranked us in every practice area researched - the only firm in South Africa to receive such recognition;
• IFLR 1000, which ranked us in the top tier in four of the five practice areas researched;
• Legal 500, which commended us in all eleven categories researched; and
• International Who's Who Legal, which chose us as the South African Law Firm of the Year. It is the fourth time, and the second consecutive year, that we have won this prestigious award. Partners from the firm were listed 29 times across 15 practice areas, more frequently than any other firm in the country.

We have a staff complement of approximately 800 people (including over 150 partners and nearly 450 professionals in a variety of legal disciplines) in offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Our client base includes many of South Africa’s Top 100 companies in banking & finance, construction & energy, insurance, media, mining, oil & gas, private equity, property and telecommunications.

Our strategy is to help our clients wherever they do business. Work on the African continent represents a growing area of our practice and, together with a network of best friend law firms, we have assisted clients in cross-border deals in most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

We have entered into a collaborative alliance with global law firm, Linklaters, which is recognised for its leading African practice having worked on numerous landmark transactions in almost every country on the continent over the past 30 years. The alliance will see us working closely together for the benefit of our clients in Africa.

We are also associated with ALN, a group of leading law firms in Africa.

We have specialist expertise in:

• Banking & Finance
• Competition
• Dispute Resolution
• Employment & Employee Benefits
• Financial Regulatory
• Carbon Trading
• Insurance & Legal Liability
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Mining, Energy and Natural Resources
• Private Equity
• Project Development, Finance and Environmental Compliance
• Public Law
• Real Estate
• Shipping, Marine Insurance & Transport
• Tax
• Technology, Media, Telecommunications & Intellectual Property

Guided by the recognised need to narrow the divide between the advantaged and disadvantaged members of South African society, the firm's Pro Bono Practice provides essential and gratis legal services to individuals and communities.