We are an all-inclusive law firm based in Paarl, with a satellite office in Cape Town. Our company culture is that of a family and we work together to provide a personal yet professional service to every client. We aim to cultivate long-term relationships with our clients and are proud to be the law firm of choice in Paarl.

We provide a wide range of general and specialised legal services to both public entities and private clients. We specialise in property law and conveyancing, commercial law and contracts, wills and estates, corporate law and tax, litigation and debt collection as well as employment law.

We pride ourselves on providing excellent legal services in a personal and trustworthy manner. We are one of the oldest law firms in the Cape Winelands and bring more than two centuries of experience to bear on developing tailor-made solutions for every client who walks through our doors.

Van der Spuy & Partners has a long history dating back to 1886 when a predecessor, AM Lewis, established a legal practice in Paarl.

In the early 1900’s, AM Lewis’s son, AJ Lewis, took over the reins from his father. In the years following, the firm grew from strength to strength as different partners made their mark, first as Lewis & Basson, then as Basson & Van der Spuy, and from 1967 as Van der Spuy & Partners.

In 1992, we moved to bigger offices at 36 Thom Street, Paarl, to accommodate our ever-growing Van der Spuy family. In 1997, the firm was incorporated as Van der Spuy (Western Cape), but still trading as Van der Spuy & Partners.

The Phatshoane Henney Group is the largest association of independent law firms in South Africa. The group, currently comprising of 41 law firms with 55 offices in 9 provinces and over 500 professionals, continues to grow year-on-year and expand its presence to major centres across South Africa.

The group was founded by Bloemfontein firm Phatshoane Henney inc. in response to an identified need of law firms to strategically position themselves for the future and access the economies of scale of a national group with national visibility and brand awareness. Membership provides firms with a range of benefits ranging from vital support services, marketing infrastructure and strategic partnerships that create value, cost savings and business opportunities for firms.

Group firms are each dynamic and prominent law firms in their respective regions and subscribe to the group values of quality, service delivery, black economic empowerment and training and development.

The group brand has also grown strongly since its establishment and has obtained recognition as a brand in the legal profession. The group brand is a complimentary brand to that of individual firms and strengthens the firm brand by adding differentiation and referencing the value and quality components of the group and the cascading benefits it holds for clients serviced by group firms.

Group members pool their resources and expertise to foster a national service directory and network of firms and professionals that can assist clients across South Africa, in addition to providing opportunities for candidate attorneys and professionals to work at firms in most major centres.

Although not contractually required of any firm, strong relationships and referral networks are naturally encouraged between member firms, providing additional benefit to member firms.

The group addresses the strategic need of firms to address their BEE profile, increase their firm visibility and differentiation in their respective regions and nationally, access high-quality support services, enhance negotiating power with financial institutions, leverage cost reductions and position themselves strategically for growth.

For more information on the Phatshoane Henney Group, its values, membership structure, partnerships and more, please visit the group website at www.phfirms.co.za.

Van der Spuy & Partners is the proud recipient of the Diamond Arrow 2023, which has been awarded to our firm by PMR Africa, where we achieved 1st place in the Medium size Law firm category in the Western Cape Provincial Survey . 

The Phatshoane Henney Group has well-established Group Standards to which all member firms must aspire and which underpin the vital Group Values member firms must adopt to be recognised as a New Breed of Law Firm™.

Only members of the Phatshoane Henney Group can be a New Breed of Law Firm™ as it personifies the drive of the Group to position each member firm not only as a leading law firm in its region, but also as a compliant, well-managed and diversified South African law firm - a New Breed of Law Firm for South Africa.

To claim the status of being a New Breed of Law Firm™, member firms must progressively implement best practices at their firm, ranging from client service, marketing, strategic planning, staff satisfaction, firm practices, training and development, regulatory compliance, risk management, transformation and more. These best practices have been meticulously designed by the Group to provide a robust foundation for the practices needed by a leading law firm.

To establish compliance, the Phatshoane Henney Group conducts a comprehensive survey of each member firm every two years, measuring compliance with over 60 best practices using an evidence-based audit to determine the individual Group Standards Scorecard for each firm.

To reward firms that excel in their audit, the Group has introduced the ne breed Law Firm Awards. These awards reward firms for exceptional results with recognition and the opportunity to showcase their exceptional performance to staff and clients. Each award is valid for two years from date of award and confirms to the public the quality of firm they are working with.

The New Breed Law Firm award is centred around the 5 Group Values of Caring, Standards, Innovation, Expertise and Diversity, with each colour in the award logo reflecting a related value, and by award to a firm, confirming that the firm has fully adopted these values and is worthy of being recognised as a New Breed of Law Firm™.

“We congratulate Van der Spuy & Partners on their outstanding compliance with the Group Standards and on receiving our highest accolade, namely to be recognised as a New Breed of Law Firm. We are proud to have Van der Spuy & Partners as a member firm of the Phatshoane Henney Group and believe the award confirms their status as a leading law firm,” says Douglas Henney, Phatshoane Henney Group Chair.

Transformation is a continuing goal of Van der Spuy & Partners and we strive to set the standard for transformation in the legal profession.

We are focused on equipping the youth of our community through financial assistance, support and in-house training for previously-disadvantaged law students. We also host vacation programmes to provide law students with practical experience, relating to the legal profession. Van der Spuy & Partners annually sponsor learnerships for black female students at the De la Bat School for the Deaf.

We continuously invest in our attorneys and support staff through skills-development and training. We are a verified Level 3 (Generic Scorecard) Contributor to BEE and Empowering Supplier. View our latest Group Transformation Report for more information on our initiatives.

	>> View Group Transformation Report 2020/2021
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2018/2019
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2016/2017
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2015