The Pretoria High Court is currently seized with a landmark case that goes to the heart of South Africa’s transformation agenda, as black legal organisations and some of the country’s biggest law firms battle over the future of the Legal Sector Code of Good Practice (LSC).
The LSC requires, among other things, 50% black ownership and representation, including 25% black female representation at senior levels in law firms, within five years.
In addition, legal firms would be required to allocate 60% of procurement spend to black advocates by year five.
The four firms – Webber Wentzel, Bowmans, Werksmans Attorneys and DENEYS REITZ INC formerly Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa – approached the court to review and set aside the code, arguing that it is unlawful, irrational, unconstitutional and unworkable in its current form.
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They claim the code was created without a proper understanding of the legal sector.
The firms also argue that the code applies to fewer than 5% of legal practices because firms with one to three partners fall below the turnover threshold required for compliance.
The applicants say the LSC would remove proven transformation mechanisms currently available under the generic codes.
Bowmans says it has maintained black ownership levels at around 28% over the past decade. The firm says it spent R292 million on black-owned suppliers in 2026, trained 195 black candidate attorneys over five years and invested more than R6 million in bursaries.
Webber Wentzel argues that under the generic code, black partner representation is around 38%.
The firm says it has trained 211 black candidate attorneys over six years and spent more than R7.8 million on bursaries.
Meanwhile, Werksmans Attorneys says its black partner representation has grown to 31.25%. The firm says it spent more than R48 million on black-owned suppliers in 2025 and more than R18 million on black professional development initiatives.
The firms argue that under the LSC, many of these bursaries and development initiatives would fall away.
Black advocates, however, have urged the court to consider the plight of black legal practitioners, some of whom have allegedly been forced to resign because of a lack of work.
The Johannesburg Society of Advocates says two-thirds of the more than 400 advocates who have left the Bar over the past five years were black.
Black advocates accuse white-owned law firms of “double-dipping”, alleging that they receive the majority of briefs from both the private sector and government, leaving black practitioners with limited opportunities.
They further argue that despite government’s stated commitment to transformation, black advocates are still not receiving the bulk of state briefs in major matters.
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