Adams & Adams

Chairman: Gérard du Plessis
Number of partners: 66
Number of lawyers: 143
Languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and various African languages including Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, SiSwati, Venda, Afrikaans, Tsonga

Firm Overview:
Adams & Adams is an internationally recognised and leading African law firm that specialises in providing intellectual property, corporate and commercial services.With primary office locations in South Africa and branches and associate offices in a number of African countries, the firm’s leadership position as the largest intellectual property law practice in Africa, and one of South Africa’s foremost corporate, property and commercial law firms is reflected in the groundbreaking work the firm does and the valuable client relationships it has with many of the world’s largest corporations and organisations, as well as small to medium-sized companies.

The intellectual property law practices work with clients around the globe and across many industries to protect, enforce and commercialise their intellectual property. The group offers clients a full range of legal services relating to the acquisition, enforcement and commercialisation of intellectual property rights. These services include counsel and handling of transactions in cases involving patents, copyrights, trade marks, designs, licensing, and data security. The partners and associates in the intellectual property group also litigate these issues in courts across Africa. Adams & Adams is the largest IP firm in Africa and is ranked among the leading firms in intellectual property in the world.

Likewise, the Adams & Adams general commercial legal services practices boast competent and powerful teams that are purposed to represent clients in expertise areas such as commercial and contract law, commercial litigation, property services, public procurement, banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions, tax, exchange control, franchising, competition, labour, personal injury, arbitration and dispute resolution, among others. As a leader among law firms involved in commercial services and other corporate transactions, the transactional and litigation experience of the firm’s attorneys, the breadth of its practice and the geographical reach of its offices in Africa have allowed Adams & Adams to maintain a competitive leadership position, representing a broad array of public and private companies, private equity firms and financial institutions, governmental entities, and other institutions and individuals in almost every type of commercial law situation.

Adams & Adams is firmly rooted in Africa — with a tenacious belief in the economic growth potential and spirit of the continent. The head office in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, provides the perfect gateway through which our partners, supported by some 700 professionals and staff, render a broad range of legal services to clients in Africa and the rest of the world.Through its associate offices and long established networks, Adams & Adams serves its global client base throughout the African continent - in matters of intellectual property, commercial law, property and litigation. Adams & Adams regularly hosts a meeting of partners from associate offices throughout the continent– a network meeting designed to maintain relationships, build capacity and share information about updates on intellectual property and corporate and commercial developments across the continent.

Main Areas of Practice:
Intellectual Property Law & Related Litigation
Administrative Law & Constitutional Services
Banking & Finance
Competition
Commercial & Contract Law
Construction & Dispute Resolution Services
Consumer Protection & Franchising
Corporate Services
E-commerce & Information Technology
Exchange Control
Family & Matrimonial Disputes
Public Procurement
Insolvency, Liquidation, Sequestration & Ancillary Services
Insurance
Labour & Employment Services
All Civil Litigation
Mergers & Acquisitions
Property & Conveyancing
Professional Negligence, including Medical
Malpractice
Personal Injury
Tax & Estate Planning

Branches & Associate Offices In Africa:

For assistance or contact with one of the firm’s associate offices across Africa: [email protected]

Adams & Adams has offices in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and associate offices in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon (OAPI), Egypt (North Africa), Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique (ARIPO), Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and Zimbabwe.

African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO):
For assistance or contact with one of the firm’s associate offices in a member state of ARIPO:
Email: [email protected]

■ Botswana
■ Gambia
■ Ghana
■ Kenya
■ Lesotho
■ Liberia
■ Malawi
■ Mozambique
■ Namibia
■ Rwanda
■ São Tomé and Príncipe
■ Sierra Leone
■ Somalia
■ Sudan
■ Swaziland
■ Tanzania
■ Uganda
■ Zambia
■ Zimbabwe

The Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI):
For assistance or contact with one of the firm’s associate offices in a member state of OAPI:
Email: [email protected]

■ Benin
■ Burkina Faso
■ Cameroon
■ Central African Republic
■ Chad
■ Republic of Congo
■ Ivory Coast
■ Equatorial Guinea
■ Gabon
■ Guinea
■ Guinea-Bissau
■ Mali
■ Mauritania
■ Niger
■ Senegal
■ Togo
■ Comoros