Bowmans (law firm)
African law firm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bowmans is a global law firm headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.[1][2] Staffed by over 650 lawyers, it comprises nine offices in six African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Mauritius, and Kenya.[1] It is one of the so-called Big Five law firms in South Africa.
_logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| No. of offices | 9 |
|---|---|
| No. of attorneys | 650 |
| No. of employees | 1150 |
| Major practice areas | Corporate Law Firm |
| Key people | Ezra Davids (chairman and senior partner) Alan Keep (managing partner) |
| Date founded | 1885 |
| Founder | Douglas Flemmer Gilfillan, Richard Bowman |
| Website | www |
The legal practice comprises the following law firms: Coulson Harney LLP (Kenya), Koep & Partners (Namibia),[3] Bowmans Mauritius (Mauritius), Bowman Gilfillan (South Africa), Bowmans Tanzania (Tanzania) and B&M Legal Practitioners (Zambia). Bowmans offices are located in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, South Africa; Swakopmund and Windhoek, Namibia; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Lusaka, Zambia; Moka, Mauritius; and Nairobi, Kenya.[1]
Bowmans has signed alliance agreements with Aman & Partners LLP in Ethiopia and Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie in Nigeria and has a non-exclusive co-operation agreement with French international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel.
It is a representative of Lex Mundi, a global association of independent law firms in more than 125 countries.
History
Bowman Gilfillan was formed through the merger in 1998 of three law firms – Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey (established 1902), Findlay & Tait (established 1885) and John & Kernick (established 1923).[citation needed]
In January 2025, 57 former members of A&O Shearman, including 14 partners, joined Bowmans.[4][5] This was after A&O Shearman announced that they would shut down their South African operations.[6]
Major deals
In 2009, the firm advised Bharti Airtel, India's largest cellular services provider in their proposed acquisition of the MTN Group, the largest announced but uncompleted merger in South Africa's history with a value of $23 billion.[7]