A&O Shearman SA's legal team finds new home at Bowmans

Following the recent closure of A&O Shearman's South African (AOS) office, Bowmans kicked off 2025 by onboarding 57 of AOS's former team to its Cape Town and Johannesburg offices.

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The decision to close the AOS Johannesburg office (which was announced in September 2024) came after the conclusion of the Allen & Overy (A&O) merger with US firm Shearman & Sterling in May.

Former managing partner of AOS, Gerhard Rudolph, says "Moving to Bowmans will provide a platform for the smooth transition of our practice and assure our clients of the certainty, continuity and enhanced support offered by Bowmans’ reach and capability across Africa."

Bowmans’ chairman and senior partner, Ezra Davids, says, "We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished team to our firm. Their expertise will complement that of our existing highly regarded talent pool and should enhance our ability to provide top-tier legal services across Africa."

The new team will boost Bowmans’ bench strength in energy, natural resources and infrastructure (projects), debt finance, dispute resolution and corporate law.

Davids concludes, "Since announcing our intention to bring on board the team from AOS, we have received overwhelming, positive feedback from clients, including the leading international law firms from all continents that we regularly work with. This development marks a significant milestone in achieving our vision to be undoubtedly Africa’s premier law firm. Our commitment to delivering innovative, client-centric solutions is stronger than ever, and we are excited to be able to expand in this way."