Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is proud to announce that three of the firm's directors (partners) have been named "Lawyer of the Year 2011" and in all, 30 lawyers in the firm's Johannesburg and Cape Town offices have been included in the 2011 edition of South Africa’s Best Lawyers®.

Chris Ewing, who is also the chairman of the firm, is named South Africa's Lawyer of the Year 2011 for Mergers and Acquisitions. Gasant Orrie, the Cape managing partner is Cape Town's Lawyer of the Year 2011 for Corporate law, and Jonathan Witts-Hewinson is South Africa's Lawyer of the Year 2011 for Arbitration and Mediation.

This year, Best Lawyers has added the Lawyer of the Year awards for the first time since it began publishing a South African edition of its global lists in 2008.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area in each community is being honoured as the "Lawyer of the Year" for 2011. These lawyers were selected because they received particularly high ratings from most of their peers. The selected lawyers have earned a high level of respect among other leading lawyers for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

South Africa’s Best Lawyers® list of outstanding lawyers is compiled by Best Lawyers' international researchers who conduct exhaustive peer-review surveys in which leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The lawyers are voted into practice areas in which they excel entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers.
The full list of South Africa's Best Lawyers for 2011 will be published in Business Day in November. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's 30 best lawyers chosen for inclusion in their practice areas of excellence are listed below. Details include the year of first inclusion in the list:

Johannesburg
Nick Altini (2008), Antitrust
Preeta Bhagattjee (2011), Outsourcing
Emil Brincker (2008), Tax
Faan Coetzee (2008), Labour and Employment; and Litigation
Joz Coetzer (2011), Capital Markets
Pieter Conradie (2008), Arbitration and Mediation; and Litigation
Lucia Erasmus (2008, Real Estate
Hans Evenhuis (2009), Banking
Chris Ewing (2008), Corporate; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity
Tim Fletcher (2008), Insurance; Litigation
Ian Hayes (2008), Corporate; Mergers and Acquisitions; and Mining
Hugh Jackson (2008), Real Estate
Willem Jacobs (2008), Corporate; and Mergers and Acquisitions
Johan Latsky (2009), Corporate; Mergers and Acquisitions
Mondo Ntlha (2009), Antitrust
Sam Oosthuizen (2008), Arbitration and Mediation; and Litigation
David Pinnock (2009), Mergers and Acquisitions
Attie Pretorius (2008), Real Estate
Ludwig Smith (2008), Banking: and Finance
Natalie von Ey (2011), Antitrust, Mergers and Acquisitions
Deon Wilken (2011), Banking
Brent Williams (2010), Mergers and Acquisitions
Jonathan Witts-Hewinson (2008), Arbitration and Mediation: and Litigation

Cape Town
Petra Krusche (2010); Antitrust
Jo Neser (2010); Corporate
Francis Newham (2010), Corporate
Gasant Orrie (2010), Corporate; and Mergers and Acquisitions
David Thompson (2008), Corporate: Energy: and Mergers and Acquisitions
Eben Van Wyk (2011), Intellectual Property
Terry Winstanley (2010), Environmental Law