I am pleased to announce that Leppan Beech Inc.'s (LBI) multi-disciplinary Mining Team will be joining Webber Wentzel effective 1 March 2010. The combination of the LBI Mining Team with Webber Wentzel's Mining, Natural Resources and Energy Practice Group creates a team with unmatched capacity and expertise in the mining field in South Africa and Africa.

Together, we are uniquely positioned to provide mining clients with the most comprehensive offerings including commercial, mining M&A, health and safety, environmental, mining and minerals regulatory, all employment law aspects related to the mining industry and land work.

The combined team will operate under the Webber Wentzel brand and be headquartered in Webber Wentzel's Johannesburg office at 10 Fricker Road in Illovo. LBI's Eugene Phajane will continue to operate from the Rustenburg office.

Our goal is to continue delivering exceptional legal advice to meet your business needs in the current markets. To accomplish this, we will adhere to our commitment of an integrated approach, offering clients a well equipped mining team with experience in all disciplines necessary to conducting business in South Africa and the wider African continent.

Although Webber Wentzel and LBI have separate histories, they have always shared a common objective: to ensure absolute client satisfaction. We remain dedicated to this objective now that we are operating as one.

The depth of our resources and the breadth of our reach are now stronger than ever. Our enlarged capacity enables us to better serve our client's needs elsewhere in Africa. We take great pride in our reputation as a firm with whom it is easy to do business. That will not change.

We will continue to update you on our progress and arrange a suitable opportunity for you to meet with the wider team.

In the meantime, I want to personally thank you for your loyalty and support. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

David Lancaster
Senior Partner

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About Webber Wentzel
Webber Wentzel is one of the leading corporate law firms in South Africa with an enviable track record of matters across various African jurisdictions. Being based on the African continent enables the firm to easily project manage the largest complex and cross-border transactions and integrate its expertise and skills base with that of local counsel to ensure clients receive a consistently high level of service delivery throughout the Continent.

www.webberwentzel.com