Published: January 4, 2012
Law firm picks up eight lawyers from Werksmans Attorneys.
Law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf has hired an eight-strong team of lawyers from Werksmans Attorneys in Johannesburg.
The team is led by Morné van der Merwe, who previously headed Werksmans’ mining and resources practice, and Wildu du Plessis, who ran its banking and finance and capital markets practices.
Van der Merwe will become Dewey & LeBoeuf’s co-chair of the global natural resources practice alongside partner Nabil Khodadad. Du Plessis’s new role will be co-managing partner of the Johannesburg office, a post shared with Scott Brodsky.
Also hired in the move are Chris Moraitis, Astrid Berman, Esmé Ferreira, Amelia Heeger, Muhammed Sader and Mike van Rensburg. The lawyers have worked in various areas including banking and financial services, capital markets and securities, corporate finance, project finance, private equity and securitization law.
Opened in 2000, Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Johannesburg office specialises in the energy, mining, power, telecommunications and infrastructure sectors. Recent deals have included advising South African utility Eskom on a US$1.75bn bond in January 2011.