Bowmans, Webber Wentzel, and Werksmans have intervened in the legal proceedings initiated by Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) to review the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Legal Sector Code of Good Practice (LSC). The LSC was gazetted by the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition on 20 September 2024, and came into effect immediately. The LSC introduced new B-BBEE requirements for the legal sector, altering how large corporate law firms are measured, rated, and expected to implement transformation.

The three firms currently hold Level 1 B-BBEE ratings under the Generic Codes, demonstrating their long-standing and measurable commitment to empowerment. Under the LSC, South Africa’s large corporate law firms’ B-BBEE rating scores are expected to decline from Level 1 to Level 6 or lower.

The three firms’ view is that a legal sector-specific code needs to be workable and sustainable, based on sound empirical evidence, and should not inadvertently harm the broader legal profession and the important role that it plays in South Africa. The firms are concerned that the current version of the LSC does not fully meet these criteria, and that the LSC introduces significant implementation and structural challenges that risk undermining transformation efforts and the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Given that the LSC is already in effect and to ensure that it meets these standards, the firms believe a review application is both necessary and appropriate. The firms’ decision to intervene is aimed at ensuring that any LSC is evidence-based, practical, tailored to the unique nature of the legal profession, and that it does not discard the well-established principles of the Generic Codes that benefit black lawyers as well as other black persons more generally.

The firms are particularly concerned that the LSC overlooks the fact that large corporate law firms operate as complex commercial businesses within a regulated profession. It also fails to recognise the vital role these firms play in training black legal professionals who go on to become judges, senior counsel, and corporate legal leaders.

Importantly, South African-based large corporate law firms attract and service vital foreign direct investment. These firms, aligned to the international corporate law firm model, create confidence for potential foreign investors who rely on independent, sophisticated local law firms of a scale and size that they are used to in their home jurisdictions. Ensuring their stability reinforces confidence in South Africa’s legal system, the rule of law, and the economy in general.

The timeline for the achievement of the LSC’s black ownership targets is problematic, with the LSC doubling black ownership targets to 50% by year five. This fails to recognise that in the legal sector, only practising lawyers in a firm can be owners (equity partners). They are personally liable for the debts of the firm and retain ownership until retirement. Junior lawyers follow a structured progression path that generally takes 10 to 11 years before becoming equity partners, after which most tend to retain ownership until retirement. This means that even with the best intentions, firms simply cannot meet these targets within the required timeframe. Revising the implementation timelines would allow firms to meet transformation goals effectively while maintaining stability in the sector, as well as ensuring that junior lawyers are properly trained and equipped with the necessary skills to advance to more senior positions.

The LSC also entirely removes socio-economic development (SED) from the scorecard, even though it is a core pillar of B-BBEE under the Generic Codes. SED initiatives, including pro bono legal work, community education programs, and bursaries, are crucial to enabling broader participation in the profession and advancing inclusive economic development.

The LSC requires that 60% of a law firm’s “procurement” spend on advocates be allocated to black advocates by year five. This spend is ultimately paid for by clients, and is only paid by law firms as a disbursement on behalf of clients, so it is not true procurement. Difficulty arises because although law firms can recommend the choice of an advocate, clients can and often do decide which advocate should be briefed. While the firms actively support black advocates, the current procurement requirements don’t reflect how the sector actually works.

There is a further complication in that law firms should provide disinterested, objective advice to their clients when recommending advocates, so they should not have regard to their own interests in the form of the effect on their own B-BBEE rating when providing this advice. This is fundamentally different from decisions relating to the firm’s own service providers, such as landlords or IT suppliers.

Furthermore, the LSC places relatively little emphasis on significant procurement spend on black-owned suppliers, such as IT services, facilities, and legal tech, which for the three firms amounts to close to R216-million per year. This is a significant driver of broad-based empowerment, all of which counts towards a procurement score under the Generic Codes. The LSC’s approach to procurement fails to give due acknowledgment to the real, measurable transformation driven through firms’ broader supplier networks.

The LSC focuses narrowly on legal practitioners, excluding black non-lawyer professionals like those in finance, IT, HR, and marketing from management control measurements, even though they play a critical role in the leadership, operations, and transformation of large corporate law firms.

All three firms have made substantial and measurable contributions to transformation. For example:

• Bowmans has maintained black ownership between 24.7% and 28.6% over the past decade, trained more than 356 black candidate attorneys in the last five years, and awarded over 20 bursaries to black university students in 2024 alone.
• Webber Wentzel has increased the number of black partners from 25% in 2019 to 37% in 2025, and invested significant amounts in black-empowered suppliers and black skills development. Over the last 5 years, Webber Wentzel has trained 178 black candidate attorneys, equipping them with the skills and experience to advance in the profession, and has spent more than R6.7-million on bursaries. 55% of Webber Wentzel’s lawyers are black, an increase of 81% over the last decade.
• Werksmans has increased black partner representation from 20% in 2019 to 30.71% in 2025, and in 2024 invested more than R45-million in black-owned suppliers and over R17-million in black professional development. Five years ago, black professionals made up 66% of junior lawyers; today, that figure has increased to 75%.

Ezra Davids, Chairperson and Senior Partner at Bowmans, speaking on behalf of all three firms, says: “We fully support meaningful transformation and believe that, when appropriately configured, the LSC can build on the significant work that has already been done to broaden transformation within the legal sector. Our goal is not to oppose transformation, but to help shape a legal sector code that is evidence-based, practical, and inclusive.

“We are ready to work with Government and other stakeholders to achieve a solution that promotes real empowerment while preserving the strength and resilience of South Africa’s legal profession. Strong, stable corporate law firms are essential to supporting public institutions, securing foreign investment, and building international confidence in the rule of law, which are all critical ingredients for a thriving democracy and economy.”