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Bowman Gilfillan is a leader in the field of competition law and has been consistently included in the GCR 100, a ranking of the world’s top 100 competition law firms.
The competition practice group comprises 20 lawyers, including internationally recognised leaders in the field. We have significant depth of experience in, and knowledge of, most sectors of the South African economy.
A key differentiator is our commitment to understanding our clients’ businesses so that the legal advice that we provide aligns with their strategic and commercial objectives. We adopt a practical solutions orientated approach. We are praised by our clients for “our wealth of experience”, “excellence”, understanding of their business, “tenacious yet careful approach” and “very practical, commercially orientated advice”.
The practice group has been at the forefront of developments in competition law since the inception of the Competition Act and provides a full range of competition law services including in relation to: merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance and other restrictive practices.
Members of the practice group are regular contributors to local and international competition law publications and participate in the special committees on competition law of the law societies of the Cape and Northern Provinces.
We have been involved in various competition law matters in other African countries and are increasingly growing our experience in competition law regimes across Africa. We recently hosted our second Africa competition law seminar, where representatives of competition authorities and legal counsel from around Africa shared their experiences and views on competition law in Africa. Representatives from the COMESA Competition Commission in Malawi and from competition agencies in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland participated, together with local counsel from more than 11 African countries, including Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. An updated version of our publication on competition law in Africa was issued at this successful event.
Chambers and Partners ranks the competition practice in band 1: with sources calling it "one of the leading competition practices in the country."
Specific partners are rated as follows:
Global Competition Review Top 100 ranks the competition practice as "elite".
Legal 500 EMEA ranks the competition practice as top tier. Robert Legh, Derek Lotter, Jean Meijer and Tamara Dini are listed as recommended practitioners. Derek Lotter is described as "excellent" and "pragmatic". Jean Meijer is described as "helpful", "technically excellent" and as giving "multidimensional advice".
IFLR 1000 ranks the competition practice as tier 1 - "Bowman Gilfillan is most definitely considered a front-runner in the market, with peers praising the consistent quality of its work." Robert Legh, Derek Lotter and Jean Meijer are identified as leading lawyers.
PLC Which Lawyer ranks the competition practice as "leading". Leading individuals identified are Robert Legh, Derek Lotter and Jean Meijer.
International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists ranks the competition practice as "elite" and includes Robert Legh, Derek Lotter and Jean Meijer among their listed practitioners
The practice group offers a wide range of services to clients, these include:
We have handled mergers in many industries, including banking, healthcare, mining, motor vehicles, information technology and telecommunications, packaging, freight forwarding and logistics, arms, steel and scrap metal, food and beverages, asphalt, security and commercial property. We have also succeeded in obtaining merger clearances in opposed merger proceedings and hostile take-overs.
We have assisted with assessing whether merger notifications are required, and in the preparation and filing of merger, in other African countries, working closely with local counsel and regulators.
We are involved in many high-profile behavioural cases before the competition authorities including cartels, abuse of dominance and other prohibited practices, interim relief proceedings, appeals, exemptions, leniency applications and consent orders.
We are currently involved in numerous ongoing and successful compliance programmes and policies.
We have been actively involved in advising clients on legislative changes to the Competition Act and preparing a possible challenge to the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Competition Amendment Act, 2009.
We advise on a range of competition law issues including the implications of commercial agreements, joint ventures and strategic alliances.
We provide competition advice inter alia to the following:
