Profile
Based in Durban, South Africa, Woodhead Bigby & Irving is an experienced and diverse law firm, offering swift, practical solutions in all branches of the law. It was rated as the top KwaZulu-Natal law firm in its category in a recent survey of the top 800 South African companies conducted by Professional Management Review, and was placed fifth in its category nationwide. The firm offers expertise in all aspects of business and commercial law, property, trusts and estates, labour, maritime, banking and tax law. It also has a strong and effective litigation department and provides a service to corporate clients, local and international insurance companies and members of the general public.
Overview
Woodhead Bigby & Irving is an experienced and diverse law firm, offering quick and practical solutions in branches of the law which it is consulted. It was rated as the top KwaZulu-Natal law firm in its category in a recent survey of the top 800 South African companies conducted by Professional Management Review, and was placed fifth in its category nationwide. It has been placed in the top 300 of South African empowerment companies.
Founded in 1922, the company offers built a stong reputation in business and commercial law, property, and have extensive expertise in all aspects trusts and estates, labour, maritime, banking and tax law. It also has a strong and effective litigation department and provides a service to corporate clients, local and international insurance companies and members of the public generally.
The Durban office of the company has occupied the same premises for more than 55 years and the company and its predecessor-in-title has been a member of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry for nearly 50 years.
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Practice Overview
Commercial
The Commercial Department attends to commercial and business related contractual matters including the sale of businesses, shareholders', partnership, joint venture, franchise, license, supply and loan agreements.
The department also assists clients with their intellectual property requirements by registering patents, trade marks and designs, and by enforcing clients' rights in that regard.
In order to facilitate our clients' business plans, we will provide advice on the most appropriate entity to be used for a particular venture, and will then register that entity efficiently and quickly.
We provide clients with professional advice regarding their relationships in the commercial arena, which include those with their customers, their suppliers, the various regulatory authorities and the South African Revenue Service.
We do provide advice for the restructuring of businesses, including mergers and acquisitions, and thereafter assist with effecting the recommended reorganisation so that it operates more efficiently in the dynamic commercial environment. We always pay careful attention to the specific business environment within which a client operates, so that our client enjoys a competitive advantage wherever possible or appropriate.
Generally, we are able to provide our clients with fully integrated and comprehensive practical solutions to advance their goals to the best possible advantage.
Estates and Trusts
The Estates and Trust Department provides advice on estate planning, setting up structures to implement an estate plan, and the administration of estates and trusts. This area of the law is integrally connected to the tax regime and we are well placed to provide advice that will allow the maximum benefit to be derived from a client's estate.
We prepare wills that are well suited to our clients' particular circumstances and requirements.
We will also wind up deceased estates, administer testamentary trusts and inter vivos trusts, and as part of such administration, invest funds on behalf of clients and trusts in terms of particular mandates given to the company.
Commercial and General Litigation
The clients of our highly effective Litigation Department include a major South African bank, other financial institutions, major corporations and individuals. Our up to date computer programmes enhance our ability to act in a speedy and effective manner.
We attend to debt recoveries on behalf of various banks and have extensive experience relating to the laws surrounding credit agreements and the recovery of movable property in terms of such agreements.
We are also able to attend, inter alia, to personal injury claims, matrimonial and other disputes arising in the field of family law, competition law disputes and the recovery of levies due to bodies corporate.
Specialised Commercial Litigation
The Specialised Commerical Litigation Department attends to a variety of matters in the fields of commercial insurance law, professional negligence, maritime law, commercial agreements and corporate litigation.
We act for a number of international companies and are attorneys of record to a number of large corporations in the spheres of petroleum, transport, import and export and insurance.
We are particularly active in intervening on behalf of underwriters and brokers in South Africa, Africa and the United Kingdom. We travel regularly to London in order to advance our clients' interests and participate in seminars on developments in the insurance industry.
We have specialised knowledge in the field of international commercial litigation involving jurisdictional disputes. We also possess a knowledge of English Law and are thus able to provide a comparative insight where mandated to do so in regard to legal problems with an international element.
Our experience and in-depth knowledge of our clients' businesses enable us to provide effective solutions to often highly technical commercial problems.
Labour Law and Industrial Relations
Our Labour Law and Industrial Relations Department has represented a wide range of clients, from individual employees and trade unions, through small and medium sized enterprises, a bargaining council and a pension fund, to listed companies and parastatal organisations.
In addition to giving general advice on a wide variety of employment related matters, we have extensive experience in representing clients in wage and other negotiations, in chairing disciplinary hearings, in dealing with and assisting clients through strikes and retrenchments, and in appearing in tribunals from the CCMA and bargaining councils to the Labour Appeal Court. We appear in court and at arbitrations in person wherever possible, so that clients are not burdened with the added cost of counsel.
Richard Haslop lectures in Labour Dispute Resolution at the Law Society of South Africa's School for Legal Practice where he is the national drafter of the course notes for the subject.
He is also the President of the South African Society for Labour Law, a member of arbitration panel of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa, and a member of the Labour Law Commitee of KwaZulu-Natal Law Society.
Property and Conveyancing
We attend to all aspects of property law including the creation of new subdivisions, servitudes, establishment of new townships, sectional title schemes, notairal leases, and the transfer and bonding of immovable property. We have converted a number of shareblock buildings to sectional title schemes and are able to project manage the processes on behalf of our clients.
Our department utilises the latest technology, available to ensure that we are linked electronically to the Deeds Office, our client banks and other clients.
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