Comprising five partners and a team of lawyers, the new office will provide advice on corporate, finance and regulatory matters. The team will also be closely aligned to the global competition, restructuring, commercial, mining and life sciences practices at Hogan Lovells.

All-female team

The new office will include an all-female senior corporate team who are able to provide end-to-end deal support and regularly work on cross-border transactions with the firm's London, U.S and Asia offices. The partners joining the firm as part of the new arrangement in Johannesburg are: Wessel Badenhorst, who will serve as office managing partner, Vivien Chaplin, Laurie Hammond, Lesley Morphet and Kevin Pietersen. Charles Marais and Rachel Kelly will also join as counsel. The new, ambitious team also intends to grow the office in response to client needs. The new office will continue to advise multinational clients investing and trading in and out of South Africa and the wider African continent. Twenty-year mining sector veteran Mr Badenhorst said, “We remain committed to developing our global business in Africa and maintaining an on-the-ground presence in Johannesburg that fully coordinates with our other key hubs around the world."

Positive reaction

Andrew Skipper, head of the firm's Africa practice, explained “Clients have reacted positively to our new arrangements in Johannesburg and see this as reconfirmation of our strong commitment to the country and the continent as a whole.” The firm began its involvement in South Africa in 2013 with a combination with Routledge Modise, which adopted the Hogan Lovells South Africa name, but remained operationally and financially separate. The firm will continue to operate one of its key global business services centers in Johannesburg, a wholly owned Hogan Lovells operation that includes a number of core business services support teams, such as marketing, HR, finance, conflicts and IT support.