Clyde & Co has launched two offices in South Africa with the hire of a four-partner team from Linklaters’ local ally, Webber Wentzel.
The new offices will be based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, headed by Daniel Le Roux, who currently heads Webber Wentzel’s insurance and legal liability practice.
Le Roux will be based in Johannesburg alongside partner Rashad Ismail and consultant Warren Hiepner, while partners Arthur James and Max Ebrahim will be based in Cape Town.
While the offices will initially cover dispute resolution and insurance business, the firm plans to hire a further ten lawyers in Johannesburg and three in Cape Town.
Senior partner James Burns said: ‘Opening offices in South Africa has been on our agenda for the last 18 months. As with all our launches, we look for the ideal combination of a first-class team and markets that strongly feature our core sectors. South Africa is not only the most developed economy in the continent, but it also provides a strong base for activity across the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.’