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Winner of the 3rd Annual International M&A Awards: Corporate/Strategic Acquisition of the Year and M&A Deal of the Year Awards.....
We are proud to announce that 26 of our practitioners have been rated as leaders in their field by Chambers and Partners 2012...
Who's Who Legal Award 2010: South African Firm of the Year and PLC Which Lawyer? 2010: South African Law Firm of the Year...
Dunstan Mlambo has been appointed by the President as Judge President of the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts and Anton Steenkam...
DealMakers Deal of the Year 2009:  Advising SAB Miller and SAB on a ground-breaking transaction isn’t something you ...
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who are we

Bowman Gilfillan is widely regarded as one of the premier corporate law firms in Africa with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The firm has an association with Coulson Harney in Nairobi. Employing 314 specialised lawyers (including 121 partners), with a total staff of 602, the firm is recognised for its professionalism and superior legal services.

As one of South Africa's biggest and oldest commercial law firms, Bowman Gilfillan draws from a solid knowledge of the local business environment and an in-depth understanding of the country's complex socio-political climate. Essentially, this enables us to offer technical legal services of the highest calibre in the context of sound, practical business advice.

The combination of Bowman Gilfillan's committed and diverse team of corporate attorneys, years of experience in the industry and in-depth legal expertise has created a winning formula that has earned us a series of accolades. These include The Client Choice Award for South Africa for 2011 at the International Law Office Client Choice Awards, South African Law Firm of the Year at the PLC Which lawyer? Law Firm Awards 2010 and South African Law Firm of the Year at the Who's Who Law Firm Awards 2010.

our legal services

The firm's dynamic combination of local expertise and international presence has attracted high-profile clients both in South Africa and around the world. Investment banks, industrial conglomerates, financial institutions, governments and state authorities are just some examples of clients who depend on Bowman Gilfillan to handle their corporate legal affairs.

Bowman Gilfillan's extensive list of specialist legal services includes:

In June 2003, Bowman Gilfillan formally established its Pro Bono programme, and by the end of the financial year on 28 February 2011, our practitioners have contributed approximately 60 000 hours of their time to pro bono-matters, at an average contribution of approximately 31 hours per practitioner per year. The value of that time at billable rates is approximately R55 million.

a global network of commercial and corporate law attorneys

Bowman Gilfillan has the unique advantage of operating as part of a global network of commercial and corporate law attorneys. Many of our partners belong to the International Bar Association, and we are members of influential international intellectual property law organisations such as AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property), the Licensing Executives Society, and FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys). The firm's directors also attend International Trade Mark Association, Marqes, Chartered Institute of Patent Agents and the Asian Patent Attorneys Association meetings on a regular basis.

As a member of Lex Mundi, the leading association of independent law firms in the world, Bowman Gilfillan works in close association with more than 160 international member firms and 21 000 lawyers all over the world.

Bowman Gilfillan is the exclusive South African representative of the Employment Law Alliance, the world's largest and most important network of labour and employment lawyers.

the africa group

Bowman Gilfillan established the Africa Group to unite lawyers across the firm in providing integrated legal services to our clients throughout Africa. Focusing primarily on corporate law, commercial law, private equity and financial law, the Africa Group facilitates cross-border legal services of the highest global standards in Africa.

The Group serves corporations, financial institutions, parastatals and governments by offering the expert and timely legal advice they need in order to achieve their commercial objectives on the continent. The Africa Group's dynamic relationships with prestigious commercial law firms across the continent, afford our clients excellent and dependable legal advice, irrespective of where they are based in Africa.

contact us for your legal requirements

Whether you need a corporate law attorney, dispute resolution lawyer, employment law attorney, or almost any other specialist business lawyer, Bowman Gilfillan is guaranteed to exceed your legal expectations.

Contact us today for more information about the legal services you require and to find out how we can be of service.

Articles and updates
Bowman Gilfillan's associations
Bowman Gilfillan has formed an association with Coulson Harney Advocates, a corporate and commercial law firm in Kenya. The association provides Coulson Harney with a springboard for its involvement in legal advisory work around Africa.
Thanks to the efforts of our expert commercial attorneys, Bowman Gilfillan has received a range of prestigious awards
Chambers and Partners 2010 ranked us first in the following departments:

Competition/Antitrust

Corporate/M&A

IT & Telecommunications

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Bowman Gilfillan Brochures
Below is a list of information found in this section:
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  • Doing Business In SA brochure
  • Nature Of Law publications
  • Access to iPort
  • Manage your subscriptions
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Bowman Gilfillan Deals
Proposed acquisition by Steinhoff of Conforama from PPR (Gucci parent company) (deal value Euro 1.2 billion)

We are acting as local counsel for PPR (Skadden Arps, the leading Wall Street law firm, are the international counsel), A French luxury goods and furniture group (also the parent company of Gucci), in the proposed disposal of its furniture and household goods business, Conforama, to the JSE listed Steinhoff International Holdings Limited.

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International links with Bowman Gilfillan
We are an independent corporate law firm with well established relationships with some of the leading law firms in the major financial centres of the world.
Listen to our podcasts and view our vodcasts
Our selection of podcasts and vodcasts in one easily accessible location. Podcasts and vodcasts can be downloaded to your computer and we also provide the option of RSS feeds for both.

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Pro Bono work by lawyers | attorneys in South Africa
Bowman Gilfillan is proud to be one of the first large commercial firms to develop and implement a comprehensive pro bono policy.  In accordance with this policy we pursue meritorious public-law cases and act for indigent clients in a number of ongoing matters.  As a responsible corporate citizen, Bowman Gilfillan encourages its practitioners to seek to provide legal services to deserving organisations and individuals on a pro bono (free) basis.  A number of pro bono matters have been taken on in a wide variety of fields, from education to healthcare and other social services and partnerships have been established with recognised public interest legal services providers such as the Legal Resources Centre and the Aids Law Project.

Bowman Gilfillan has also entered into an arrangement with CIDA City Campus, particularly in business subjects, in terms of which we prepare the lecture materials for, and present lectures to, their second year students.  We also provide CIDA with legal advice. All of this is done free of any charge, as part of our social responsibility programme.

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Attend one of Bowman Gilfillan's Seminars or Events
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Transformation policy of Bowman Gilfillan
Bowman Gilfillan is involved in a continuous transformation process and in 2004 adapted a Transformation Charter.  The Transformation Charter was revised in 2008 with recommendations for the next 3 years.

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In Association with Coulson Harney Advocates       Member of Lex Mundi - The World's Leading Association of Independent Law Firms       Member of Employment Law Alliance - Helping Employers Worldwide       We support The Global Compact
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