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
| Category | Winner |
| Legal Department of the Year – Small Team | PepsiCo |
| Legal Department of the Year – Large Team | National Bank of Egypt |
| Legal Department of the Year – Banking & Finance | Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) |
| General Counsel of the Year | Carina Wessels, Alexforbes |
| In-House Rising Star Award | Mubeen Sablay, PepsiCo |
| Risk & Compliance Department of the Year | Roche |
Private Practice Awards
| Category | Winner |
| African Law Firm of the Year | Bowmans |
| African Law Firm of the Year – East Africa | DLA Piper Africa |
| African Law Firm of the Year – North Africa | DLA Piper Africa |
| African Law Firm of the Year – Southern Africa | DLA Piper Africa |
| African Law Firm of the Year – West Africa | Thiam & Associés |
| African Network / Alliance of the Year | DLA Piper Africa |
| Banking & Finance Team of the Year – Large Sized Firm* | Bowmans |
| Banking & Finance Team of the Year – Medium Sized Firm | Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe |
| Capital Markets Team of the Year | Baker McKenzie |
| Competition and Regulatory Team of the Year | Webber Wentzel |
| Employment Law Team of the Year | Norton 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 Firm | LnP Beyond Legal |
| International Law Firm of the Year | VdA – Vieira de Almeida |
| IP Team of the Year | Webber 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 Firm | LnP Beyond Legal |
| M&A Team of the Year – Large Sized Firm* | ALN | Anjarwalla & Khanna |
| M&A Team of the Year – Medium Sized Firm | Thiam & Associés |
| Partner of the Year – East Africa | Peter Kasanda, Clyde & Co |
| Partner of the Year – North Africa | Kamal Nasrollah, Baker McKenzie |
| Partner of the Year – Southern Africa | Ryan Wessels, Bowmans |
| Partner of the Year – West Africa | Adeleke Alex-Adedipe, Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe |
| Private Equity Team of the Year | Bowmans |
| Private Practice Most Promising Newcomer Award | Puleng Mothabeng, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr |
| Private Practice Rising Star Award | Ariana Issaias, Bowmans |
| Property and Construction Team of the Year | Bowmans |
| Restructuring Team of the Year | Bowmans |
| Specialist Law Firm of the Year | Lopes Attorneys |
| Tax Team of the Year | Webber Wentzel |
| TMT Team of the Year | Baker McKenzie |
| Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the Year | Hogan 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
| Category | Winner |
| Best Use of Technology | Sheria Kiganjani |
| CSR, Diversity, Transformation and Economic Empowerment Award | Lighthouse Law |
| ESG Initiative of the Year | Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Legal Task Force |
| Innovation Award | Webber Wentzel |
| Women Leaders in Law – In-House/Vendor | Seun Timi-Koleolu, Pavestones Legal |
| Women Leaders in Law – Private Practice | Lili Nupen, Nupen Staude de Vries |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Chief Justice Raymond Zondo |
Source https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/african-legal-award-winners-2024-813203a
