ENS - Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) is Africa’s largest law firm, advising clients throughout Africa across all areas of corporate business relating to law, tax, forensics and intellectual property. The firm benchmarks itself according to international standards while retaining a uniquely African focus, making it well equipped to advise clients wherever they may choose to do business. ENS has over 500 practitioners and was established over 100 years ago, making it one of the oldest and most experienced full-service law firms in Africa. The firm has been recognised for its contribution to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa and is proud to be a Level 3 BBBEE contributor.

one firm | one team
The key to the firm’s success and its differentiator in the market is its ‘one firm and one team’ approach. Instead of practitioners carrying out client work across a variety of areas, ENS has specialised teams comprising a number of practitioners who work only in a particular area of law. As a result of this focus, practitioners have high levels of expertise and experience in a multitude of business areas and industry sectors.

The integration of these numerous skill sets as one cohesive team allows ENS to provide clients with a turnkey and cost-effective solution. Irrespective of how many business areas a transaction spans, business is done not only at the right level, but also by the person best able to carry out the transaction, meaning that clients can benefit from fast turnaround times, gain access to the right advice and receive the most affordable solution.

in Africa | for Africa
ENS is uniquely placed to understand and leverage its knowledge of the local markets and has amassed experience in dealing with the diverse regulatory bodies across Africa. The firm is proud of its in-depth experience in managing and executing large pan-African legal projects, transactions and engagements.

With a number of practitioners qualified in English law, ENS has the necessary background expertise for transactions being carried out across Anglophone countries within Africa. The firm also has specialist expertise in doing business in Francophone Africa, with a number of French-speaking practitioners who are also qualified in French law. Moreover, ENS has practitioners who are qualified to practise law under the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) rules; therefore, the firm is not only business fluent in French, but able to transact and advise clients across all of the OHADA countries.

By virtue of its position in Africa, ENS can also advise clients in the most cost-effective way by ensuring that work is done in the location and by the people best suited to each aspect of the transaction. Whether working closely with a client’s trusted adviser in cross-border matters or assisting clients directly, ENS is ideally placed to ensure that all transactions involving African countries can be optimised and managed from a local and geographic perspective, in order to ensure maximum return for the client.

world-class
ENS is a recognised market leader, ranked in nine Chambers areas of law (South Africa), with five of the firm’s core practice groups being rated in the top tier in 2012 – corporate and M&A, banking and finance, capital markets, tax, and competition and antitrust.

The firm has been described as:
• “highly experienced”, “praised for their responsiveness and thorough advice” and “on a par with top international firms” by Chambers and Partners Global Guide 2012;
• “the competition”, “a consistent player” and “absolutely outstanding” by IFLR1000 2012; and
• “lateral thinkers” and “exceptionally thorough and hardworking, with excellent depth of experience” by Legal 500 2012.