Short description
Few legal firms can claim to have been part of South Africa's industrial history for as long as Webber Wentzel Bowens.
Long description
Well-known author Mike Nicol tells the engaging story of the founding fathers of the South African firm now known as Webber Wentzel Bowens. Legal advisors to the Randlords – including members of the Jameson Raid which precipitated the South African War – these men and their corporate clients helped to shape Johannesburg, and the development of South Africa.
Building on its solid reputation in the first half of the twentieth century, Webber Wentzel’s and Bowens’ transformation into a single varied, vibrant and multi-cultural legal firm is a model for the legal profession. Both firms were among the first to appoint female partners.
Success, however, did not come easily. The two firms twice survived acrimonious dispute. Their story is an inspiring tale of persistence and legal manoeuvering that goes back to the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley and of the goldfields of the Witwatersrand.