Admitted as an attorney with this varied practice, Craig gained invaluable experience of the law practising as a professional legal assistant and was involved in commercial drafting, commercial litigation, restructures, insolvency enquiries and related litigation.

For six years Craig was Legal Counsel in a commercial environment being appointed as a member of the senior management team which first introduced the concept of managed health care in South Africa, which position required him to draft legal contracts and scheme rules, advise on legislative requirements and issues and be involved in submissions relating to the proposed Medical Scheme’s Act.  The scheme rules were based on historic claim profiles and the legal wording had to be articulated to avoid disputes and reduce queries.

Thereafter Craig was appointed as Company Secretary/Legal Advisor for an offshore diamond mining group whose holding company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and the Namibian Stock Exchange where his responsibilities were extensive and included:

• being involved in negotiating facilities with the banks (totalling 75 million USD);
• managing and preparing the engineering, shipping, employment, mining, diamond sale and commercial agreements;
• attending to manage the takeover of ODM (a marine diamond mining company listed on the JSE);
• managing the company secretarial matters in a complex multi- jurisdictional group structure of some forty companies;
• attending to prepare and file returns required by the various exchanges and ensuring regulatory compliance.

When an operational accident occurred, and the company lost its mining capacity and was left without cash flow, Craig formulated the strategy for a structured liquidation and restructure of the group.  A core team of senior management remained in the business to carry out the restructure and Craig led and managed the team and the processes and negotiations required to carry out the restructure.

The restructure took eight months to implement and was extremely complex with a number of stakeholders having differing requirements.  Stakeholders included a consortium of banks, creditors, debenture holders and a new foreign shareholder.  The restructure was successfully implemented, which resulted in the group coming out of liquidation and 29 million USD of funding procured in order to resume operations.

Armed with immense practical legal experience gained during the preceding years, Craig returned to private practise for his own account in 2002.

Craig has been rated on Legal 500 and in Chambers as one of the top South African lawyers in dispute resolution and listed in Best Lawyers 2012-2017, being awarded Best Lawyer – Litigation in 2018.

Craig has also been an Acting Judge of the High Court, and three of his judgments during his term were reported on “Saflii”.

After completing a postgraduate LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Andrew relocated to Cape Town to join at a leading corporate practice in the litigation and dispute resolution department. Andrew was active in student politics whilst at Wits having been elected onto the Law Students Council and sitting as a student representative on the University’s disciplinary board.

Andrew was appointed, after completing his articles, as a professional assistant before joining Craig as a senior associate at Assheton-Smith Incorporated in 2012. Andrew became a Director of the firm in 2014 and has recently been made a named partner.

With a varied practice which is both a testament to his versatility as a practitioner and his interest in all aspects of the law and legal practice, Andrew has litigated in almost all of the local and provincial divisions of the High Court, has had several matters before the SCA, Labour Appeal Court and Competition Appeal Court.  Andrew has run matters relating to commercial property, insurance, insolvency, complicated commercial and contractual disputes, delictual claims, commercial arbitrations, PAJA reviews, construction arbitrations and labour related mediations and arbitrations.

Andrew has also been involved in a number of large commercial transactions and is as comfortable in the boardroom as he is in the Courtroom.

Some of Andrew’s career highlights include:

• his involvement in a matter which yielded one of the authoritative judgments on the difference between insubordination and insolence in the workplace (Palluci Home Depot (Pty) Ltd v Herskowitz and Others (2015) 36 ILJ 1511 (LAC));
• his involvement in the first judgment in which Calderbank offers were considered in South African jurisprudence (D and Another v MEC for Health and Social Development, Western Cape Provincial Government 2017(5) SA 134 (WCC));
• his involvement in a matter the judgment of which is widely quoted as authority for what is required to be included in a deed of sale in order for same to comply with the Alienation of Land Act (Osborne and Another v West Dunes Properties 167 (Edms) Bpk and Others 2013 (6) SA 105 (WCC));
• the restructure of a large software services company valued in excess of R100 million which included the creation of off-shore holding structures;

• complex arbitration against a Provincial Government Department for the recovery of in excess of R100 million rands worth of arrear service fees; and
• his involvement in an ongoing matter currently before the Western Cape High Court dealing with the interpretation of the reinstatement value conditions clause of an indemnity insurance policy.

Andrew’s methodical approach to any complicated legal question make him an invaluable asset to his clients.

 Anne completed a B.Com and post graduate LLB at Stellenbosch University, and after completing her articles at Assheton-Smith Ginsberg Incorporated, has continued to practice with the firm, was admitted as a Notary Public in 2015 and became a director of the firm in 2022.  She has been in charge of her own matters from the outset and has excelled at litigation, in particular, and commercial practise.

Anne is well versed in the practices and processes of the Courts and meticulous in her case management and has extensive experience in litigating in the local divisions of the High Court, including trials in relation to matters concerning complex legal issues and/or substantial quantum, opposed motions seeking interdictory relief and contempt applications.

Blue Financial Services Limited v Absa Bank Limited and Another (39633/2014) [2019] ZAGPJHC 340

www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2019/340.html

Mostert and Another v Nash and Others (12120/19) [2020] ZAGPJHC 187

www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2020/187.html

She has worked with a number of senior counsel in preparation of technical and expert evidence as well as intricate pre-trial disputes.  She drafts all documentation personally and has done so in highly technical and complex litigation.

Anne has extensive experience in drafting and opposing petition proceedings to the Supreme Court of Appeal and more recently applications for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court which applications were heard by the Constitutional Court  She has personally assisted counsel with research and to edit heads of argument in all the above courts.

Burger N.O. and Others v Bester N.O. and Others (CCT 246/20) [2021] ZACC 48

www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2021/48.html

Bester N.O. and Others v Quintado 120 (Pty) Ltd (CCT160/21) [2021] ZACC 49

www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2021/49.html

Anne has drafted commercial agreements of complexity and successfully concluded negotiations in respect of complicated commercial transactions.

Anne’s areas of experience also include:

• implementation of business rescue proceedings and assisting business rescue practitioners with the day-to-day management of such business rescue proceedings, including any legal issues and proceedings which may arise during such business rescue proceedings such as arbitration proceedings;
• insolvency matters, including drafting of liquidation and sequestration applications, voluntary surrender applications and applications for the rehabilitation of insolvents as well as successfully preparing and launching applications in the Western Cape High Court for a commission of enquiry to be convened in terms of section 417 and 418 of the Companies Act No. 61 of 1973 and ancillary processes;
• litigating in the CCMA and the Labour Court as well as various District and Regional Magistrate’s Courts;
• drafting and notarising antenuptial contracts as a qualified and admitted Notary Public.
• litigation in company, trust and commercial related matters at all court levels.

Alwyn, a B.Com LLB graduate of the University of Pretoria, focuses on commercial law, and as such he has advised on, and attended to, the structuring, negotiating and implementing of mergers and acquisitions, including sale of shares and sale of businesses, black economic empowerment transactions with related financing, joint ventures, company formations, listings, de-listings and restructures, share incentive schemes, capital markets, general financing and security and the structuring of shareholder affairs. He also has extensive experience in funding and related security structures and in the structuring of mining and exploration ventures, in South Africa and a number of African countries.

After completing his articles at McRoberts Inc. Alwyn commenced his professional career at Goldman Judin & Werner in Sandton, focusing on property law and general commercial law.  He then joined Glyn Marais Inc., a niche commercial law firm with offices in Sandton and Cape Town and was managing partner from 2004 until 2008.  In 2010 Alwyn returned to practice for his own account and is one of the co-founding directors and shareholders in Probity Advisory Pty Ltd which focuses on general commercial, tax and corporate finance services.

Alwyn has held and continues to hold various executive and non-executive board appointments at listed companies.

Alwyn’s experience includes:

• Advising on the formation of a private equity fund;
• Advising a group on various matters including funding lines and listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the take-over of a number of the banking and funding operations in another group;
• Advising a bidding party on a possible take-over of JSE listed mining group;
• Advising on international expansion of a major SA private clinic and hospital group;
• Advising on the management buy-out of SA mining technologies company and subsequent international bid for the company;
• Advising on a merger, transaction value approximately R 1,7 billion, the buy-out of an interest in a subsidiary which included a successful counter-offer bid against a third-party offeror and the successful opposition of an attempt by another shareholder to stop the transaction, and preparing and overseeing a rights issue of approximately R96 million;

• Preparing various agreements for the restructure of various clients, including the filing of applications with the Take Over Panel;
• Advising a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on a billion rand acquisition of a majority interest in the owner of a platinum mine, conducting due diligence on the structure of the holding entities, financing structures and mining licenses;
• Advising on various regulatory related issues related to the implementation of trustee services in support of a Collective Investments Scheme and the related FAIS implications; and

Acting for consortiums of SA Banks successfully advising on the refinancing and restructuring of the debt in large SA companies involving billions of rand, conducting legal due diligence, and negotiating and drafting the consortium and facility agreements.

Matthew completed a Bcom Accounting and post graduate LLB at the University of Cape Town in 2018. Matthew commenced his articles at the firm in 2019 and was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in November 2021.

During his tenure as a Candidate Attorney and now as an admitted attorney, Matthew has been actively involved in assisting the directors of the firm with complex commercial and civil litigation matters and has experience in the case management process including the preparation for applications and trials.

Matthew has a particularly keen interest in commercial contracting and assists Craig Assheton-Smith with complex commercial transactions that he is involved in.

Matthew’s areas of experience include:

•  Assisting the directors of the firm in complex commercial matters in the Pretoria High Court, Johannesburg High Court and Western Cape High Court; and
• Drafting and preparing commercial contracts for a variety of commercial transactions.

Elana completed her BCom (Law) at the University of Stellenbosch (cum laude) in 2018 whereafter she completed a 2-year post-graduate LLB on the same campus.

A passionate, driven young lady, Elana’s natural intelligence and ability to quickly grasp complex concepts and apply the law and case law within the framework of ASG’s model designed to achieve the best commercial outcomes for their clients, has made her an asset to the firm within the first year of her articles.

Elana passed all four board exams in 2021, written in one sitting, with flying colours and is looking forward to being admitted in early 2023.