Corporate Counsel Forum Africa 2019:

The annual meeting place for Africa's leading general counsel

Thursday 5 September 2019 | The Wanderers Club | Johannesburg, South Africa

Thursday, September 5, 2019

8:00 AM - 8:55 AM | Registration

8:55 AM - 9:00 AM | Chair’s Opening Remarks

Bertrandt Delport, Head of Legal - BT

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Conducting Business and Thriving in an Increasingly Regulated Environment

Practicing business and the law across the African continent can often be a complex process. With differing degrees of maturity across agencies and difficulty across the region to consistently protecting your organization's rights, how can we create a more centralized approach? Join this opening session as we explore best practices to help navigate the numerous regulations which make it difficult to conduct business across Africa and discuss strategies to help create a centralized approach in the future
 
Moderator: Farai Nyabereka, Partner - Manokore Attorneys
 
Speakers:
  • Lameez Vania, General Counsel - Tiger Brands
  • Wellington Chimwaradze, General Counsel, South & Southern Africa - Unilever
  • Fred Waithaka, Head of Legal & Secretarial Services - Safaricom Plc

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Day In the Life of A GC - The Biggest Challenges Facing The Modern General Counsel

The GC is a proactive member of a corporation's C-Suite, and their role as counsel is often utilized across the organization in different ways. General Counsel's are collaborating with various business leaders and across many verticals to help drive strategic business decisions. As the scope of the GCs responsibilities continue to broaden year after year, this session will explore the GCs evolving role, the business challenges they face in risk management, compliance and regulation across different industries, and discuss how they are dealing with the pressures that are keeping them up at night
 
Moderators: Brandon Irsigler, Partner - Dentons
 
Speakers:
  • Carmel Samimi, Legal Director, Africa - Reckitt Benckiser, Inc
  • Lumka Khaile, Head of Legal ( Southern, East & West Africa) - Merck Group
  • Verishka Dulu, Legal Counsel - Masswarehouse 
  • Alan Komar, General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer - Saville Row Group

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Networking Break

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Developing a Robust Compliance Program to help Navigate Cross Border Data Privacy Regulations

With the recent introduction of GDPR and CCPA legislations, many organizations are tasked with complying with a legislation which has external reach.Many companies will have to ensure they are compliant within their own region as well as their subsidiary locations, but what is the best approach? Join this session as our panel of data privacy experts will assess the do's and don'ts of cross border data exchanges and best practices when creating your data privacy compliance program.
 
Moderator: Ahmore Burger-Smidt , Director, Head of Data Privacy - Werksmans Advisory Services, Werksmans Attorneys
 
Speakers:
  • Leona Mentz, Chief Data Protection Officer - BT
  • Madeleine Truter, Group Head of Legal - Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate
  • Nina Barakzai, General Counsel Data Protection & Group Chief Privacy Officer - Unilever
     

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM | Networking Lunch

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Attracting & Developing Top Legal Talent

Recruiting across Africa can be particularly challenging, whether it is the variety of languages at play or trying to recruit while increasing your BEE efforts. However, the largest concern for many leaders within legal departments is how to attract the right talent but also develop that talent into a future leader. As the role of lawyer has changed in recent years, lawyers are now not only expected to be great lawyers but also possess commercial acumen. With a limited number of candidates with both set of skills, how do you overcome this? Join our panel of experts as they offer solutions and explore the current challenges in attracting and developing current talent.
 
Moderator: Krishnan Nair, Deputy News Editor - LegalWeek
 
Speakers:
  • Jeannine Naudé Viljoen, General Counsel - TransUnion Africa
  • Christopher Akiwumi, Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs MEA - Microsoft
  • Devon De Sousa, Head of HR & Group General Counsel - Toys R Us & Babies R Us South Africa
  • Maha Deeb, Partner - Legal Locum Network

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM | Women in Power in Legal: Becoming A Leader Within Your Organization

The lack of diversity in legal departments is a long-standing issue, especially considering the lack of women represented in leadership roles. This panel will discuss the issue of gender inequality in the legal space, how women lawyers are fighting to drive diversity and equality in corporate legal department and most importantly, how women can become leaders within their organizations.

Moderator: Anne Shilengudwa, Founder - Anne Shilengudwa Attorneys
 
Speakers:
  • Rebotile Bopape, GM Legal, Southern Africa Region - MultiChoice Africa Limited
  • Ayele Locoh-Donou, General Counsel - GE Healthcare Africa
  • Yvonne Perumal, Divisional Director, Legal - Liberty Group South Africa

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Networking Break

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Interactive Roundtable Discussions

Roundtable 1: Building Efficient & Strategic Relationships with Outside Counsel
Ignaz Fuesgen, Founder & Director - KOHMAP
 
Roundtable 2: Crisis Management: How to Respond When Disaster Strikes
Speaker: Bertrandt Delport, Head of Legal, Africa - BT
 
Roundtable 3: Utilizing Technology & Legal Operations to Build the Legal Department of The Future
Speaker: Alison Lee, Chief Executive Officer -  Corporate Counsel Association 
 
Roundtable 4: Big Law meets New Law - Demystifying Alternative Legal Services and Managed Solutions
Speaker: Megan Jackson, Legal Services Innovation Manager - Webber Wentzel

5:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Chair’s Closing Remarks & End of Conference

Bertrandt Delport, Head of Legal - BT