African Legal Award winners 2024

10 Sep 2024

The 2024 African Legal Awards, hosted by Law.com International, celebrated the continent's top in-house and private law firms at a gala ceremony at the Houghton Hotel, Johannesburg on 6 September.

Image: Law.com International - African Legal Awards

This year, Bowmans walked away with seven awards including the coveted title of African Law Firm of the Year, while VdA - Vieira de Almeida was awarded International Law Firm of the Year. DLA Piper Africa took home four awards, having been named African Law Firm of the Year for East, West and Southern Africa, as well as African Network/Alliance of the Year. Webber Wentzel also won four awards, including the Innovation Award. Norton Rose Fulbright and Baker McKenzie took three awards each.

Two new categories this year honoured Women Leaders in Law - In-House/Vendor, as well as in Private Practice. These were awarded to Seun Timi-Koleolu of Pavestones Legal, and Lili Nupen of Nupen Staude de Vries respectively.

Former chief justice, Raymond Zondo, was named the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

"Competition was fierce; and every shortlisted firm or individual ... has shown skill, determination and flair in getting this far. And when it came to selecting the winners, our distinguished panel of judges devoted months to meticulously reviewing each submission, and applying the highest level of care and discernment to select the overall winners," said Habiba Cullen-Jaffar, reporter for Law.com International.

Bowmans’ chairman and senior partner, Ezra Davids, thanked the African Legal Awards for recognising the firm's contribution: "We are very proud of this recognition of our commitment to Africa and our position as the pre-eminent law firm on the continent. It’s a testament to the value of our ‘one firm’ strategy and approach to growing sustainably in support of our clients."

The full list of winners for the 2024 African Legal Award:

In-House Awards

Category	Winner
Legal Department of the Year - Small Team	PepsiCo
Legal Department of the Year - Large Team	National Bank of Egypt
Legal Department of the Year - Banking & Finance	Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit)
General Counsel of the Year	Carina Wessels, Alexforbes
In-House Rising Star Award	Mubeen Sablay, PepsiCo
Risk & Compliance Department of the Year	Roche

Private Practice Awards

Category	Winner
African Law Firm of the Year	Bowmans
African Law Firm of the Year – East Africa	DLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – North Africa	DLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – Southern Africa	DLA Piper Africa
African Law Firm of the Year – West Africa	Thiam & Associés
African Network / Alliance of the Year	DLA Piper Africa
Banking & Finance Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*	Bowmans
Banking & Finance Team of the Year - Medium Sized Firm	Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe
Capital Markets Team of the Year	Baker McKenzie
Competition and Regulatory Team of the Year	Webber Wentzel
Employment Law Team of the Year	Norton Rose Fulbright
Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Team of the Year - Large Firm*	Norton Rose Fulbright
Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Team of the Year - Medium Sized Firm	LnP Beyond Legal
International Law Firm of the Year	VdA - Vieira de Almeida
IP Team of the Year	Webber Wentzel
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*	Norton Rose Fulbright
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year - Medium Sized Firm	LnP Beyond Legal
M&A Team of the Year - Large Sized Firm*	ALN \| Anjarwalla & Khanna
M&A Team of the Year - Medium Sized Firm	Thiam & Associés
Partner of the Year – East Africa	Peter Kasanda, Clyde & Co
Partner of the Year – North Africa	Kamal Nasrollah, Baker McKenzie
Partner of the Year – Southern Africa	Ryan Wessels, Bowmans
Partner of the Year – West Africa	Adeleke Alex-Adedipe, Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe
Private Equity Team of the Year	Bowmans
Private Practice Most Promising Newcomer Award	Puleng Mothabeng, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
Private Practice Rising Star Award	Ariana Issaias, Bowmans
Property and Construction Team of the Year	Bowmans
Restructuring Team of the Year	Bowmans
Specialist Law Firm of the Year	Lopes Attorneys
Tax Team of the Year	Webber Wentzel
TMT Team of the Year	Baker McKenzie
Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the Year	Hogan Lovells

*A large firm is classified by being top 25 in the Africa Top 50 or in the Global 100

Awards Open to both Private Practice & In-House

Category	Winner
Best Use of Technology	Sheria Kiganjani
CSR, Diversity, Transformation and Economic Empowerment Award	Lighthouse Law
ESG Initiative of the Year	Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Legal Task Force
Innovation Award	Webber Wentzel
Women Leaders in Law - In-House/Vendor	Seun Timi-Koleolu, Pavestones Legal
Women Leaders in Law - Private Practice	Lili Nupen, Nupen Staude de Vries
Lifetime Achievement Award	Chief Justice Raymond Zondo