Former Werksmans Chairman heads to Bowman Gilfillan

I heard a rumour about this a week or two ago and see that Bowman Gilfillan, one of the large law firms in Sandton, Johannesburg, has confirmed that it has hired former chairman of Werksmans (another major law firm in spitting distance from Bowman Gilfillan).  This move is particularly interesting considering that Stein’s father was a previous senior partner of Werksmans and the Steins have been part of the Werksmans culture for decades.  Here is the release on Bowman Gilfillan’s website:

Bowman Gilfillan has appointed one of South Africa’s leading corporate lawyers, Carl Stein, as a Director. Stein’s specialties include Mergers & Acquisitions, compliance, cross-border transactions and advising on and structuring complex corporate/commercial transactions. Stein acted as the lead corporate counsel for Telkom SA Ltd when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – the largest IPO by a South African Company on a foreign bourse to date.

I don’t see a profile on the Bowman Gilfillan site for Carl Stein just yet.  I am curious what his position is at his new firm.

Update:

I read a particularly damning article in Noseweek today about what it calls a “palace coup at Werksmans”.  The article makes for interesting reading to say the least.  Ultimately readers must make up their own minds whether talk about powerful cliques and the significant changes are nefarious or simply a “restructuring” effort underway at the 89 year old firm.

Disclosure: I was previously employed by Werksmans before starting Jacobson Attorneys so I won’t comment on the accuracy (or not) of the article.

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