The Legal 500 has once again ranked leading international Intellectual Property (IP) law firm Spoor & Fisher as a Tier 1 firm in South Africa. The Legal 500, a guide to preeminent law firms, stated in its report that Spoor & Fisher is a longstanding market leader in trade marks and patents across the continent.
 
The report highlighted Spoor & Fisher’s significant progress in anti-counterfeiting work outside South Africa. It also recognised the firm’s wealth of US and European-based clients and acknowledged Spoor & Fisher’s growing influence among Japanese and Korean businesses.
 
The rankings, based on feedback from over 300 000 in-house peers as well as the law firm’s deals and confidential matters, are independently assessed by researchers. The rankings provide buyers of legal services with an objective analysis of firms in the market and is widely regarded as offering the definitive judgment of law firm capabilities.
 
Published annually, the rankings highlight the practice area teams and practitioners that provide the most cutting edge, detailed and innovative advice.
 
The report identified Stephen Goldberg and Jean Mclvor as “key names in the trade mark prosecution space” and Charles Webster as “the leader in trade mark litigation”. Hugh Moubray and Lance Abramson were acknowledged as “key players in patent work”.
 
Partners Carl van Rooyen, Eben van Wyk, Jonathan Whittaker and Tshepho Shabangu were also recommended for their skillset.
 
“Legal 500’s comments on the firm’s capabilities and leaders is a strong endorsement of our work ethic. The recognition is the result of our continued focus on excellence for our clients. We are delighted to be consistently ranked as a Tier 1 firm across all our core areas,” says Jonathan Whittaker, Partner & Executive Chairperson of  Spoor & Fisher.
 
“We take this opportunity to thank all the clients who participated in the survey and offered valuable feedback, and we congratulate every member of the team for their work in making this happen.”