PRACTICE PROFILE DIRECTORS

Transcription

1 No 1997/012640/21 A T T O R N E Y S 16th Floor The Pinnacle, Cor. Strand & Burg Streets, Cape Town 8001 PO Box 4793, Cape Town 8000 Telephone Facsimile Docex 94, Cape Town PRACTICE PROFILE History N.J. Yekiso and Associates was established by Mr Ntlupheko James Yekiso, who was the first black attorney to be admitted in Cape Town. Through the years, the firm took pride in being a leading black firm in the Western Cape to train aspirant black lawyers who found it difficult to find a firm at which to serve Articles. Mr Yekiso, who has practiced for his own account since 1979 has recently been appointed as a Judge of the High Court bench in Cape Town and passed the firm over to Messrs Pinda Njokweni and Mlamli Baliso. Marais Müller Incorporated was established in 1945 and has subsequently expanded into one of the largest law firms in the Province of the Western Cape. At present the firm has five branches, one of which is in Cape Town and the remaining four situated in towns in the proximity of Cape Town, which include, Bellville, Kuils River, Stellenbosch, Tygervalley and Mitchells Plain. On 1 May 2001 the legal firms of Apollos and Associates and Marais Müller Incorporated were merged. DIRECTORS C LOUBSER BA LLB - AJ VAN ZYL B COM LLB DIP TAX PRAC - AP JOOSTE B COM LLB - MTS HOFMEYR BA LLB - P RALL BA LLB - TR DE WET B COM LLB - SJ BURGER BA LLB DIP TAX PRAC DIP EST NJ HOFMEYR B COM LLB MBL - AJ MARAIS BA LLB - JW APOLLOS BA LLB - BF BOOYSEN BA LLB DIP INS - CJ GROBBELAAR BA LLB - GM DE WET BMUS LLB - P NJOKWENI B IURIS LLB PJ TRUTER BA LLB DIP EST - OJM SIEBERHAGEN B COM LLB LLM DIP LABOUR LLM - LG SMITH B PROC - M BALISO B PROC - G REED BSc HED BA LLB - SENIOR ASSOCIATE HE STEFFEN B COM LLB ASSISTED BY JE VAN ZYL BCOM LLB - P BRINK BA LLB - FI KRIEK B COM LLB CS HENDRICKS LLB LLM E GATES (MRS) OFFICE MANAGER

2 2 Merger Both the firms of N. J. Yekiso and Associates and Marais Müller Incorporated have always endeavoured to embrace the need for change. South Africa has witnessed many changes and we have as two separate firms respected and embraced these changes. We believe that equal opportunities should exist in the Country's legal, commercial and political dispensation at all times. We are open minded to any change that might be necessary and have always nurtured this consideration. After extensive negotiations and many compromises from both firms, Marais Müller Yekiso Incorporated ("MMY") was registered on 28 March We are all very proud of this positive step towards integration of the South African legal society. On 1 July 2003 the two directors of N.J. Yekiso and Associates moved into the existing Cape Town offices of Marais Müller Incorporated with all their staff, furniture and equipment. This means that the joint resources of both firms are at the disposal of the directors and staff of Marais Müller Yekiso and also facilitates an effective sharing and transfer of professional knowledge and skills. This merger is probably one of the first of its kind, comprising a traditionally white and black firm, in the Province of the Western Cape. The merger was exhaustively negotiated in order to make sure that the Yekiso Incorporated component of the merger is not another "window dressing" scheme, which has been the downside of affirmative action in our country to date. Not only is this merger a positive step towards rectifying the injustices of the past, but at the same time creates a more dynamic law firm by combining respective resources, knowledge and experience. It is further worth mentioning that in the Western Cape Region and particularly in the legal fraternity there are very few, if any, black firms that have the resources to train aspirant black lawyers to becoming competent legal practitioners and at MMY this is our main objective. Since the initial establishment of both firms, they have specialised in various fields of law, details of which are provided below. We believe that this merger will not only expand the capabilities of Marais Müller Yekiso Incorporated in order to provide a better service for our clients, but also afford us the opportunity to integrate various legal perspectives.

3 3 We pride ourselves in the fact that we are confident to deal with any challenge, which a client may be faced with from a legal point of view. As a result, our firm has gained the support of numerous large commercial and industrial corporations, as well as various of the major banks in South Africa. Notwithstanding, we have also been intent on providing specialised and efficient service to all our clients, irrespective of their magnitude. Black Empowerment Policy The South African Government has defined Black Economic Empowerment in its document for Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment as an integrated and coherent socio economic process about significant increases in the numbers of black people that manage, own and control the country s economy, as well as significant decreases in income inequalities. Marais Müller Yekiso Incorporated supports this objective and realises that Black Economic Empowerment ( BEE ) will only succeed if emphasis is placed on all the elements of ownership, investment, preferential procurement, company development, control and employment equity. The below mentioned strategy objective envisaged by us will undoubtedly promote the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Strategy formulated by the South African Government. It is especially in the legal fraternity that white males have dominated the profession. We, at Marais Müller Yekiso Incorporated ( MMY ) have identified the drastic need for change. On all levels of employment including management and professional staff ( directors ), professional staff ( non-directors ), administrative staff, as well as unskilled staff, we undertake only to employ previously disadvantaged individuals ( PDI s ). Apart from the changes that have already been made to date hereof, all further appointments, unless exceptional circumstances exist, will be made on the aforementioned basis. Notwithstanding the above, any replacement of staff, on any level, will be made in the form of an appointment of a PDI. We are actively attempting to amend disproportionate employment figures with new appointments, especially at the top occupational levels. We envisage that within the next two years, each occupational level of Marais Müller Yekiso Inc. will consist of at least 40% PDI's. We firmly believe that through actively

4 4 promoting this policy, either by way of replacement or new appointments, the objective mentioned above can be achieved. We prefer to appoint professional staff and train them before an appointment to directorship is made. However, we realise that, in order to reach our objective, more drastic steps have to be taken (see appointment of directors Mr Njokweni and Mr Baliso, as well as transfer of ownership), like the direct appointment of directors. In confirmation of our commitment to BEE and transformation our board of directors have unanimously passed a resolution to transfer ownership of Marais Muller Yekiso Inc. to previously disadvantaged directors on 21 October Accordingly, more than half of MMY will henceforth be owned by PDI's. We believe that this policy and the accompanying changes will ensure compliance with the Government's requirements and is also of utmost importance to our clients as the South African Government requires business undertakings to utilise service providers that comply with BEE requirements, failing which they will be sanctioned in various ways. We are also enthusiastic to broaden the horizons of Marais Müller Yekiso Inc. and emphasise that we welcome this change and look forward to creating new alliances with partners and clients. Infrastructure We have, at our disposal, more than sufficient infrastructure to enable us to attend to the workload required. Our advanced computer system allows for 350 to 400 property transfers per month, as well as numerous bond registrations and other property transactions, as and when required. All documentation required by our commercial and litigation departments is produced by modern word-processing facilities and our accounting system is fully computerised. An interesting point to note is that our firm was one of the very first to link the accounting system of it's individual branches to a centrally located computer via modem lines. At our Cape Town branch, sufficient personnel have been appointed to attend to the requirements of property transfers at the office of the Registrar of Deeds. Other administrative personnel attend to the Cape Town High Court, Master of the High Court, Receiver of Revenue, Surveyor General, as

5 5 well as numerous other private and public offices situated in Cape Town. Our other branches utilise these services via an internal mail system, which operates daily. Practice areas Property Law and Conveyancing Drawing deeds of sale and registration of transfers including single title, sectional title and estate transfers - Registration of mortgage and notarial bonds - Subdivision of property and township development - Sectional tile and share block schemes - Notarial servitudes, leases and antenuptial contracts - Property valuations and auctions Commercial Law - Formation of companies and close corporations, trading and inter vivos trusts - Shareholders and partnership agreements - Mergers, take-overs and sales of shares and business - Advice and drafting requirements in the fields of Company Law, Law of Trusts, Close Corporation Law, and Partnership Law.

6 6 Estates - Estate Planning - Drafting of Wills - Trust formation and administration - Winding up of deceased and insolvent estates and companies Liquor Law - Applications for liquor licences and interpretation of liquor laws Labour Law - Advice and agreements on all aspects of the employment relationship - Handling of labour disputes, including applications for interdicts - Acting in the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court and rendering assistance with CCMA and IMSSA arbitrations - Drafting aspects, including contracts of employment - Advice and drafting on all aspects regarding social security law. Litigation - Including all aspects of High Court and Magistrate's court litigation - Alternative dispute resolution and arbitrations - Collections - Criminal matters

7 7 Family Law - Family mediation (particularly to reach divorce agreements) - Divorces - Issues regarding custody and maintenance disputes Insolvency Law - Liquidations and sequestrations - Handling of insolvent estates Road Transportation - Appearances before Operating Licensing Boards and Transport Appeal Tribunal Intellectual Property Law - Liaison with patent and trade mark attorneys relating to registration of patents and trade marks Maritime and Shipping Law - Maritime legal proceedings such as arresting of vessels etc. - Maritime bonds - Applications for commercial fishing rights - Drafting of agreements relating to vessels for example sale of vessel agreements, charter parties etc.

8 8 Information Technology Law - Copyright of computer software - Computer software agreements - Trade mark and domain name registration Road Accident Fund Claims - Lodgement of road accident fund claims - Assessment of damages - Litigation or arbitration in road accident fund matters