Global law firm Clyde & Co has significantly expanded its South Africa presence with the hire of five leading partners.
Tony Hardie, Amelia Costa, Robert Scott and Alon Meyerov join the firm’s Johannesburg office and Athol Gordon joins the firm in Cape Town.
The additions, which also include a number of associates, mark a major expansion in Clyde & Co’s client offering in South Africa. The firm launched both offices in May 2014 with an insurance and marine disputes focus. The new additions further strengthen this focus while also adding new capability in construction and commercial disputes.
Earlier this month the firm also hired a sixth partner, Ernie van der Vyver, who specialises in corporate insurance and regulatory.
Clyde & Co Senior Partner James Burns said: “The Clyde & Co approach to opening in target markets is to find a first class team in one of our core sectors and to then build out from there in line with our clients’ needs. With this latest growth, which comes less than 18 months after launch, we are now into the second phase. We’re delighted that Tony, Amelia, Rob, Alon, Athol and Ernie have chosen to join us.”
Clyde & Co International Arbitration Group partner Maurice Kenton, who has been involved in the firm’s expansion into South Africa, commented: “With this latest expansion we are now not only firmly established as a top tier insurance practice in the region but have also positioned ourselves in a position of strength in the commercial and construction disputes space. Our clear strength in disputes, whether domestic or international, and the insurance sector minimises conflicts and means we are uniquely positioned to provide our clients with muscular litigation and arbitration services.”
The new partners are:
Tony Hardie is a leading litigator with nearly 30 years’ experience of disputes, regulatory and investigation work, emanating from the insurance sector in Africa as well as general insurance coverage and litigation within South Africa. He joins from Norton Rose Fulbright where he was Head of the Insurance Practice.
Amelia Costa specialises in insurance, ranging from cover disputes, defence work, subrogated recoveries and regulatory and compliance work. She has represented most of the leading insurance companies, healthcare providers and security service providers in South Africa. She also joins from Norton Rose Fulbright.
Robert Scott focuses on commercial litigation, construction and insurance. He has over 25 years’ experience specialising in professional indemnity insurance and dispute resolution having been involved in arbitral and mediation disputes on various large construction projects relating to infrastructure development and mining both nationally and cross-border. He joins from ENS Africa, where he spent 6 years as a partner in the Dispute Resolution Department.
Alon Meyerov focuses on litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution in the construction and engineering sector. His experience within the sector also includes litigation on various large construction projects relating to mines, wind farms, power-lines, sub-stations and infrastructure development. He joins from ENS Africa.
Athol Gordon is a leader in high value medical malpractice claims. With over 20 years’ experience he specialises in defence of complex injury claims. In addition he also undertakes commercial litigation for three of the largest international oil & gas companies. He joins from Bowman Gilfillan.
The team will also be joined by a number of other lawyers including Christopher MacRoberts and Ina Iyer who join from Norton Rose Fulbright, Jo Spies who has joined from Webber Wenztel and Kate Swart and Nicole Gabryk who are joining from ENS.
The new additions bring the total number of legal professionals at Clyde & Co in South Africa to approximately 30.
In addition to its offices in South Africa, Clyde & Co also has an office in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Source: www.clydeco.com
