Pinsent Masons unveils real estate practice in South Africa

Pinsent Masons unveils real estate practice in South Africa

A local ESG offering is also strengthened by the addition of Gunn Attorneys

To launch its local property practice in South Africa and enhance it's environmental, social and governance capabilities in the country, Pinsent Masons has partnered with Gunn Attorneys in Johannesburg.

Two new lawyers joined the firm's 16-person South Africa team, including 10 partners: Gunn Attorney's founder Adam Gunn and associate Sarah Burford. Adding Gunn and Burford to Pinsent's real estate team will contribute to the firm's growing environmental and socially responsible practices, the firm said in a statement.

According to Pinsents, the joint venture will introduce a property practice in Johannesburg, which will allow the firm to serve the local clients for real estate matters and ensure that the firm's sole location in South Africa will continue to serve clients in its key sectors of energy, science and industry, financial services and technology and infrastructure.

As head of the Johannesburg office, Junid Banoobhai commented: "Adam and Sarah's experience in the environmental, ESG and real estate sectors will not only complement our existing practice but will broaden the scope of our consulting services. With a proven track record in South Africa, we're confident that the team will play a key role in enhancing our local capabilities."

Gunn founded his firm in 2014 and specializes in property law, mining law and environmental law. In his LinkedIn profile, he describes his career history as beginning in law practice at the local firm Webber Wentzel in 1999 and moving on to serve as an executive and non-executive directors for organizations in the mining industry, including Ridge Mining and First Uranium Corporation.

The law firm Pinsents indicates that he has also worked for ESNafrica and Eversheds Sutherland.

As an attorney at Gunn Attorneys in 2021, Burford had worked as an in-house lawyer at VZLR, a mining house in South Africa, between 2018 and 2019 after completing her LLM at the University of Pretoria a year before.

Together, the duo serves as legal advisors in terms of mining, environmental, and commercial issues in South Africa.

Following the appointment of Edward James from ENSafrica as Pinsent Masons' partner in South Africa in Jan 2022, Pinsent Masons continues to strengthen its presence within the country.

James joined just a few months after his firm lost its South Africa transactional practice head Chris Green to Hogan Lovells. That move marked Hogan Lovells' first partner-level hire since the latter firm's split with Routledge Modise, followed by the opening of its new office in early 2019.