The Big Five law firms is a term informally used in South Africa to refer to those law firms which, collectively, are perceived to be the leading law firms based in South Africa.
The following firms are usually seen as comprising the "Big Five" (listed alphabetically):
Name Date founded Offices LawyersBowmans 1885Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Moka, Nairobi (9) (July 2020)Bowmans Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.bowmanslaw.com/contact-us/400+ (July 2020)Bowmans Who we are Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.bowmanslaw.com/our-firm/company-profile/ Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr1853Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch (3) (July 2020)Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Contact Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/contact/350+ (July 2020)Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr About Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/about/ Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs 1905 Accra, Alexandra (pro bono office), Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Mitchells Plain (pro bono office), Nairobi, Port Louis, Stellenbosch, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Windhoek (14)Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.ensafrica.com/contact-us/ 600+ (July 2020)Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs About Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.ensafrica.com/about-us/ Webber Wentzel in alliance with Linklaters 1868 Cape Town, Johannesburg (2) (July 2020) Webber Wentzel Retrieved 31 December 2010Webber Wentzel Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.webberwentzel.com/Pages/Contact-us.aspx 450+ (July 2020)Chambers and Partners Webber Wentzel Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/webber-wentzel-global-2:3753 Werksmans 1917 Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch (3) (July 2020)Werksmans Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.werksmans.com/contact/ 175+ (July 2020)Werksmans Our People Retrieved 9 July 2020https://www.werksmans.com/our-people/?rl=0&pr=0&lc=0&tl=&sw=ALL
Rankings Chambers and Partners Global rankings
Chambers and Partners Global Rankings of the number of departments recognised as leaders in their respective fields in South Africa in 2020. This list is non-exhaustive. Rank1 Name Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 1 Webber Wentzel 13Chambers & Partners Webber Wentzel Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/webber-wentzel-global-2:3753 3 4 None2 Bowmans 12Chambers & Partners Bowmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/bowmans-global-2:2677 4Chambers & Partners Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/cliffe-dekker-hofmeyr-global-2:3733 2 13ENS 9Chambers & Partners ENSafrica Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/ensafrica-global-2:132639 8 2 None4 Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr 6 10 3 None5 Werksmans 5 7Chambers & Partners Werksmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/werksmans-attorneys-global-2:3754 4 2 Allen & Overy South Africa 1Chambers & Partners Allen & Overy Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/allen-overy-llp-global-2:7 Clyde & Co South Africa 1Chambers & Partners Clyde & Co Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/clyde-co-llp-global-2:85 None 2 None Spoor & Fisher 1Chambers & Partners Spoor & Fisher Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/spoor-fisher-global-2:22363558 None None None Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa NoneChambers & Partners Norton Rose Fulbright Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/norton-rose-fulbright-global-2:309 6 2 3 Fasken Martineau South Africa NoneChambers & Partners Fasken Martineau Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/fasken-global-2:3695 2 1 3 Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa NoneChambers & Partners Herbert Smith Freehills Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/herbert-smith-freehills-global-2:189 1 None 4 Shepstone & Wylie NoneChambers & Partners Shepstone & Wylie Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/shepstone-wylie-global-2:2889 1 None None Baker McKenzie South Africa NoneChambers & Partners Backer Mckenzie Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/baker-mckenzie-global-2:2692 None 4 4 DLA Piper South Africa NoneChambers & Partners DLA Piper Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/dla-piper-llp-global-2:22401592 None 2 None Fluxmans NoneChambers & Partners Fluxmans Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/fluxmans-global-2:1914 None None 3 Knowles Husain Lindsay NoneChambers & Partners Knowles Husain Lindsay Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/knowles-husain-lindsay-inc-global-2:131820 None None 1 Lawtons Africa NoneChambers & Partners Lawtons Africa Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/lawtons-africa-global-2:23190829 None None None Note1: Based on Band 1 rankings.
Who's Who Legal Global 100
Law firms included in the Global 100 aren't assigned a specific ranking.
Year Firm32013 ENS2013, 2014 Webber Wentzel Note3: firms listed alphabetically
Who's Who Legal South African Law firm of the year
Year Firm2015 Webber Wentzel2013 Webber Wentzel2012 Webber Wentzel2011 Webber Wentzel
Midsized law firms Firms with more than 50 attorneys are generally viewed as midsize law firms.Michael H. Trotter, Profit and the Practice of Law: What's Happened to the Legal Profession (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1997), 46.
Name Founded (South Africa) No. of offices (South Africa) No. of attorneys (South Africa) Fairbridges Wertheim Becker 1812Fairbridges Wertheim Becker About us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/about-us/#history 2 (July 2020)Fairbridges Wertheim Becker Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/contact-us/ 51 (July 2020)Fairbridges Wertheim Becker People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fwbattorneys.co.za/our-people/ Fasken Martineau South Africa (formerly Bell Dewar) 1901 1 (July 2020)Fasken Martineau Offices Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fasken.com/en/offices#contact-us 67 (July 2020)Fasken Martineau People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.fasken.com/en/people/lawyer#sort=%40flastname75392%20ascending&f:_48DFBF78-54F8-4FEC-9C91-A346C4EAB4B0=[Johannesburg] Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa1 1922 3 (July 2020)Norton Rose Fulbright Global Coverage. Retrieved 9 July 2020 75 (July 2020)Norton Rose Fulbright People Search. Retrieved 9 July 2020 Shepstone & Wylie 1872 5 (July 2020)Shepstone & Wylie Contact Us Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.wylie.co.za/contact/ 69 (July 2020)Shepstone & Wylie All Lawyers Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.wylie.co.za/lawyers Spoor & Fisher 1920 4 (July 2020)Spoor & Fisher Offices Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.spoor.com/en/offices/ 94 (July 2020)Spoor & Fisher People Retrieved 9 July 2020 https://www.spoor.com/en/people/#slide-414=0 STBB - Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes 1900 13 (September 2022)STTB Contact Retrieved 14 September 2022 https://stbb.co.za/contact/ 116 (April 2026)STTB People Retrieved 7 April 2026 https://stbb.co.za/find-a-lawyer/Strauss Daly Incorporated 19849 (October 2021)52 (October 2021)
Note1: On 1 June 2011, Deneys Reitz Inc joined UK based firm Norton Rose. Ogilvy Renault and Deneys Reitz to join Norton Rose Group Retrieved 31 December 2010 Deneis Reitz, and then Norton Rose Fulbright, was formerly considered to form part of the big five law firms. Due to its decline, Werksmans, which was formerly outside of the big five law firms, took its place.
See also Magic Circle (law) Silver Circle (law) Big Six law firms
Notes
References