Deloitte Legal Southern Africa

Firm overview: Deloitte Legal* South Africa is part of the global Deloitte Legal network. The firm’s clients benefit from being part of a global network with access to lawyers in a number of jurisdictions. Our practice areas are specially aligned to Deloitte’s existing multi-disciplinary offerings.

The South African practice is staffed by admitted attorneys who provide legal and advisory services to clients across a broad spectrum of industries.

Skilled and experienced Deloitte Legal lawyers work together with other Deloitte professionals in tax, consulting, financial advisory and transactional services to provide clients with integrated and coordinated advice and guidance in respect of their projects and transactions, often on a cross-border or global basis.

The Deloitte Legal South Africa team has a special focus on corporate and commercial legal advisory services (including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), reorganisations, inward and outward investments and transaction structuring). The team also provides legal management consulting services. The team, working closely with their tax colleagues, assists clients in resolving their tax disputes.

Deloitte Legal has innovated its service offerings to align to global trends in providing cost-effective legal services in a multi-disciplinary environment, optimising the ultimate solution to its clients.

* Deloitte Legal means the legal practices of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited member firm affiliates that provide legal services. For legal and regulatory reasons, not all member firms provide legal services.

Main areas of practice: Deloitte Legal South Africa organises its market offerings around the following key services:

Corporate, M&A and restructurings: Deloitte Legal South Africa provides a full range of corporate law services including complex advisory services related to:

• Pre-deal matters (non-disclosure agreements, term sheets), drafting of transaction documents, transaction management and implementation, closing and post-closing matters.
• Group reorganisations and restructurings, including drafting of restructure documents, implementation of restructure, corporate consents and approvals, post-restructure matters.
• Advising on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listings requirements, corporate actions (acquisitions/disposals, share issues, affected transactions, schemes of arrangement), drafting of circulars.

These services are often provided in combination with structuring and M&A advice from the firm’s tax and corporate finance professionals, in order to provide clients with an integrated service offering in respect of their transactions and corporate structures.

Legal due diligence investigations: Deloitte Legal South Africa provides legal due diligence investigation services, often in a coordinated fashion with our tax and financial advisory colleagues.

Corporate and commercial law solutions: As experienced advisers with a practical focus, Deloitte Legal can assist clients in meeting their commercial challenges and developing practical legal solutions, including:

• Drafting of commercial agreements.
• Company law advice and opinions in respect of financial assistance, distributions, share buy-backs, fundamental transactions, Takeover regulations, board and shareholder matters, directors’ personal financial interests.
• Company registration, including providing advice and the drafting of constitutional documents.
• Advising on corporate governance matters, as well as conducting training of executive staff.

Legal management consulting (LMC): Deloitte Legal’s LMC services were developed in collaboration with experts across Deloitte practice areas such as mainstream management consulting, risk advisory, tax management consulting and, of course, legal. The services are configured to identify opportunities to help the general counsel and the legal department as a whole to achieve desired state.

LMC services include:

• Assessing and developing legal operating models
• Evaluating and reconfiguring internal legal processes
• Developing frameworks for legal risk management
• Assisting with sourcing (balancing in-house resources with external third party providers)
• Developing and deploying legal technology architecture
• Facilitating tailored labs to develop solutions

Legal managed services: Legal managed services of Deloitte Legal were developed to help legal departments keep up with the demands from their businesses for support on a range of legal issues. The legal professionals employ technology and proven methodologies to act as an extension of a company’s in-house legal team, driving efficiencies through process improvement, and providing support and guidance to help enable their focus to shift to more strategic issues.

Support is offered for:

• Contract lifecycle management
• Legal document review and management
• Any outsourced legal-related service
• Legal staffing
• Legal regulatory mapping

 Equity and debt capital markets: Advising on and drafting documentation, including circulars, to implement the following:

• Rights offers
• Standalone bond issues
• Domestic Medium Term Note Programmes and Notes issuances
• Regulatory advice including JSE listings requirements

Tax dispute resolution: Working closely with Deloitte Africa’s experienced tax colleagues, Deloitte Legal is well placed to assist clients in resolving their disputes with revenue authorities, including requests for reasons, objections, appeals, alternative dispute resolution (for individuals and corporates).