With a flurry of mergers between SA law firms, Bell Dewar has adopted a different approach to meeting the needs of a changing market.
"Though many legal firms believe that sheer size enables them to offer a complete range of legal services, we've gone for a more focused approach," says Bell Dewar MD Paul Fouché. "Specialisation allows us to use our industry experience to meet clients' needs."
WHAT IT MEANS
 Has multidisciplinary expert teams
Has some of SA's big names as its clients
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The firm, formerly known as Bell Dewar & Hall, recently changed its name to Bell Dewar and adopted a new corporate identity. "The international trend is for firms to have shorter names and while we didn't want to change our name completely, we wanted the name to reflect that we have restated ourselves in the market," he says.
But he says it's business as usual for the firm, which specialises in providing legal services to a range of industries that include mining and energy, financial services, as well as infrastructure and power.
"One of the things that sets us apart from other legal firms is the ability of our multidisciplinary teams to offer in-depth expertise," says Fouché. "We don't try to be a big firm, but we do have big teams."
On large merger and acquisitions transactions, for example, the firm puts together sizable teams, who are able to integrate every legal aspect of a deal - from competition to tax and financial implications. "Many large transactions in the mining sector, for example, involve getting community support for the deal as well as dealing with employee benefits," says Fouché. "We make sure every box is ticked." To be able to do this, the firm has developed strong relationships with government, the business sector and communities.
With 54 lawyers and 31 directors, Bell Dewar is probably considered a mid-sized firm in the SA context. "But big is not necessarily better," he says. "With increased size comes cost pressures and this is likely to drive legal costs."
The firm has been approached over the past few years by other players in the market to consider merging. "You're either going to merge with another firm to cut costs or to exploit synergies," says Fouché. "If those synergies aren't going to elevate you to a higher level, in the areas that you regard as important, then the pain and costs involved in a merger would likely outweigh the benefits."
Bell Dewar provides legal services to many of SA largest organisations and in unique projects, including the King Shaka International Airport in Durban and the US$650m Seacom cable, a project that will bring more international bandwidth into Africa. This week the firm was recognised as the Legal Advisor of The Year at the Africa Investor Infrastructure Awards held in Jo'burg.
The firm has also served as a legal adviser in major transactions such as Impala Platinum's proposed acquisition of Mvela's interest in Booysendal exploration, mining and beneficiation project and its 62,8% interest in Northam Platinum.
The firm also works closely with international firms on multinational deals, particularly those considered to be in the "magic circle" in the UK.
