Actively building: leading firm Deneys continues talent investment across South African practices and offices

International experience, specialist expertise, and familiar faces are all part of leading African law firm Deneys’ latest investment in talent, with four lawyers joining or returning to the firm since July, led by the arrival of Nicci Britton as a Director in the Johannesburg office last month. A financial regulatory expert, Britton focuses on insurance, banking and broader financial services regulation.

Britton’s “depth of financial services regulatory experience” will be “a genuine asset” to Deneys’ clients and the team, said fellow directors Donald Dinnie and Byron O’Connor, Co-Heads of Insurance at Deneys.

Joining Deneys in August from Clyde & Co, Britton has advised insurers and reinsurers on licensing and market entry, transfers of insurance business and structuring operations into Africa. Her experience also encompasses medical schemes, intermediary licensing and data protection, while time spent in-house at a registered bank adds a client-side perspective on banking regulation.

Britton was not the only addition to Deneys’ highly regarded Insurance team, with Suzanne Booyens also joining the firm as a Senior Associate in Cape Town.

Booyens brings more than a decade of insurance litigation experience across the South African and British markets. She began her career with century-old South African firm Savage Jooste & Adams, before working for international law firms RPC in London and Clyde & Co in Cape Town in more recent years. Her work has spanned complex coverage disputes, reinsurance, professional negligence and policy interpretation. Dinnie and O’Connor described her arrival as “a boost for the team and a wonderful way to mark this period of growth for Deneys”.

Deneys latest talent intake stretches beyond conventional lateral moves and legal biographies, however. Martyn Lombard joined Deneys’ Commercial Litigation team in Durban as a Senior Associate on 1 September, bringing experience across commercial disputes, insolvency, and professional sport.

Before his legal career, Lombard spent eight years as a professional rugby player, beginning with the Mpumalanga Pumas, then competing in France.

Deneys Head of Dispute Resolution André Vos noted what that change of direction revealed about Lombard, saying the discipline required to compete professionally, and then “start an entirely new career from the bottom and build it into a senior practice”, said a great deal about the new person joining his practice group.

Meanwhile, Deneys’ mining team has welcomed back one of its own, as Shanese Booysen rejoined the leading African firm as an Associate in July after more than two years as an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

Booysen previously completed her articles with the firm, and trained in mineral and petroleum law before moving into academia.

Collectively, these four new arrivals form part of a broader investment in its people that Deneys has showcased in a new chapter year for the leading firm.

As previously reported by Africa Legal, several lawyers joined Deneys between April and June, including real estate partner Alex de Wet, while five other lawyers were promoted to Senior Associate, across practice groups and offices.

CEO Brent Botha said Deneys was “actively building, not standing still”.

“Clients choose advisers they can rely on for the long term, and that is the firm we are building. Since launching in March, we have added lawyers with international experience and specialist expertise across our offices, welcomed back talent we trained, and promoted from within. Each appointment and promotion strengthens our teams, and we will continue this investment trajectory”.

The latest additions show the ongoing process across practices, offices, and career paths, combining experienced external hires with the growth of talent developed within the leading African law firm.