I’m a partner in the Tax practice at Bowmans, specialising in Private Capital fund formation and downstream M&A portfolio company work.

I believe I was nominated because the nominator sees me as one of the top tax advisors in the Private Capital space in the country. I have an experienced client base both locally and internationally and have advised on numerous fund-raising processes and deployment of capital, mainly in the private equity space.

The broader Bowmans Private Equity practice, is regarded as one of the top 2 practices in this space. The Bowmans Tax team is regarded as the top tax practice in the country.

Making me a winner won’t be based on creating hundreds of jobs, generating billions in turnover, merging businesses etc for the firm I’m employed by. But in respect of the transactions I’m involved with, closing many of these deals will have created jobs, turnover and successful business.

Making me a winner I believe is based on me being able to reinvent myself over almost 3 decades, being extremely relevant in the market, building very small practices throughout my career into leading Tax and Private Equity practices. The Bowmans tax team was small when I joined, we now have 15 tax partners.

Many moved with me, the others have worked with me over the years and decided to join. My passion for teaching has remained; teaching very competent accountants and lawyers to be great, and relevant, and to focus on exceptional, high standards of work and work ethics. Many of the people I have taught over my career are now my partners.

The passion remains strong. Tax law is a very complex legal specialisation. It requires keeping abreast of the ever-changing law but also being able to apply the law in very complex, high-end transactions.

Collaboration is a strong feature of any successful legal practice. Easier said than done. But I drive this theme within my practice and the firm on a daily basis and at all levels. Clients want to see solution-orientated advice.

I have always backed myself, when perhaps others haven’t. Coming from very humble beginnings, I believe I’ve made a success of myself, my career, my family. I’ve been bold, often not afraid and never being satisfied. Always willing to teach and always willing to be taught.

Vision: To remain relevant in the market in which I practice. Continuous learning and teaching. Remaining the top tier Tax team in the country is difficult but it’s a continual goal. For SA, we need dynamic
professionals. Academic results are important. Can you imagine if organisations all spend time on driving
passion, creating confidence, allowing junior people to exploit their talents when they are still junior. The vision for this country is then limitless.