DLA Piper South Africa adds four new senior associates

The announcement of four new senior associates in the Johannesburg office highlights DLA Piper’s dedication to achieving excellence for clients globally and is testament to its commitment to nurturing talent in South Africa, says Johannes Gouws, the Country Managing Partner at DLA Piper in South Africa. 

Effective 1 July, DLA Piper announced three internal promotions for its Johannesburg office, across its corporate, finance, and litigation and regulatory practices. 

Callie Jo Bouman, who joined the firm in March 2023, becomes a senior associate in the corporate practice. She has experience in domestic, cross-border and multinational transactions for public and private clients including private equity funds, financial service providers, oil and gas companies, energy and resource providers, online educational institutions and fintech companies.

“It’s been a challenging but rewarding journey — full of growth and learning, with the privilege of working alongside inspiring colleagues on transactions for dynamic clients,” said Callie Jo when sharing the news. She worked as a fashion model as well as a board member, brand ambassador, and volunteer for several nonprofits and community organisations before embarking on her legal career. “Grateful for every step. Here’s to continued growth, boldness, and striving for excellence!”

Malachizodok Mpolokeng, who joined DLA Piper South Africa in June 2023, has been promoted to senior associate in the Finance, Projects & Restructuring practice. He has experience in a broad range of banking and corporate finance transactions, including project finance, leveraged finance, debt restructuring and related security structures, with additional exposure to acquisition finance and debt capital markets.

Dharshini Naidoo, who joined the firm as an associate in April last year after almost two years as Group Legal Counsel - Competition and Compliance at Illovo Sugar Africa, has also been promoted to senior associate. Dharshini advises clients on competition law matters including merger control across Africa and investigations into prohibited practices such as cartels and abuse of dominance.

In addition to the three internal promotions, DLA Piper has also bolstered its Johannesburg office with the arrival of senior associate Annastasia Nair. 

Formerly of Baker McKenzie, Annastasia has experience in general corporate and commercial law, corporate governance, due diligence investigations, corporate reorganisations, and M&A. She has helped implement global reorganisations.

“We would like to congratulate our newly promoted Senior Associates and wish them the very best on this career milestone,” said Johannes Gouws.