Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

Projects, Energy and Infrastructure

Ross is a Corporate partner in the Projects, Energy and Infrastructure practice group in the Johannesburg office.

His practice focuses on M&A (largely private sector) and general corporate work. He is a leading corporate lawyer in South Africa with 20 years of experience acting for well-known local and international mining, commercial and industrial companies with a particular focus on the energy sector. Ross represents a wide range of clients including listed and unlisted South African corporates and multinational corporations. He has acted for clients in all sectors with a recent focus on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transactions and transactions in the renewable energy, mining and telecommunications sectors.

Ross also specialises in the corporate components of project work. He has advised on approximately 40 renewable energy projects under the auspices of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Programme (REIPP).

Ross also assists clients with investigations, complaints and charges initiated by regulatory bodies such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Competition Commission and the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). He has dealt with offences such as insider trading, market manipulation, trading in closed periods and price fixing.

Ross provides corporate support on commercial litigation matters relating to, amongst others, disputes arising from allegations of breach of contract and breaches of the Companies Act.

He commenced Articles with Deneys Reitz Attorneys (now Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa) in 1995 and served that Firm in various professional and management capacities for 24 years until mid-2019.  At the time of his departure, he was the Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for the South African business of Norton Rose Fulbright.

University of Cape Town - Bachelor of Arts University of Cape Town - Bachelor of Arts Honours University of Witwatersrand - Bachelor of Laws Harvard University - Diploma in Legal Management