Liesl Peyper | April 8, 2025
Bowmans, Webber Wentzel, and Werksmans are seeking revisions to the implementation timeline to maintain sector stability.
Three major South African legal companies announced on Tuesday an intervention in legal procedures launched by Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) to challenge the government's legal division of Bee Act.
In a joint statement issued by Bowmans, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans, the decision to intervene is to ensure that the legal sector code “is based on evidence tailored to the unique nature of the legal profession, is practical and not dumped into the wealthy principles of the general code that benefits both black lawyers and black lawyers in general.
Companies expressed special concern that they overlook the fact that the legal sector code operates as a complex commercial business within a regulated profession.
“This also does not recognize the important role these companies will play in training black legal professionals who will continue to become judges, senior advisors and corporate legal leaders,” the trio said in a statement.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) published the extensive Black Economic Empowerment Legal Sector Good Practice Code (LSC) in September 2024, providing for the high scope of B-BBEE ratings for large law firms, including ownership, voting rights and executive management positions.
According to Bowmans, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans, LSC is set to reduce the BBBEE ratings from level 1 to level 6 or below, as they all currently hold a Level 1 B-BBEE rating under generic code.
The trio further stated that the timeline for achieving Code's Black ownership goals is problematic, with Black ownership goals having doubled to 50% by the fifth year.
“This overlooks the fact that in the legal department, only the company's lawyers could become owners (in the form of equity partnerships). They are personally liable for the company's debts and hold ownership until retirement.
Companies say that even the best intentions can't meet these targets in the required time.
“By revising the implementation schedule, businesses are able to effectively meet their transformation goals while maintaining sector stability, and that junior lawyers are properly trained and have the skills necessary to advance to a more advanced position,” they said.
The NRF went to court in January to block new sector codes and claimed it was setting unreasonable and impractical goals for the law firm.
Two weeks later, the company retracted its bid, but said it had not opposed the code at the time, repeating the unconstitutional and mysterious thing.
Paul Janish, a bee consultant and analyst, believes that the legal challenges to this code are highly likely to be successful.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, we've adopted a DIT that features a roughly running DIT that runs SA business in its empowerment process and the official gazette code, saying it's legal and legal and no one has ever questioned it,” Janisch says.
“This is a typical feature of SA law. It often doesn’t follow the right process, and the due process requires a proper analysis of the sector or industry to ensure that the proposal works in the legal department.
“Disclaimer – the views and opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Bee Room.”
