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Welcome to Ashersons Attorneys

Celebrating 100 years of practicing law in South Africa.

Established in 1920 by Raphael Asherson, Ashersons has become well known as a general practice offering its clients integrity and loyalty. Ashersons is a boutique practice catering for an exclusive range of both corporate and high nett worth individual clients throughout South Africa, Africa, Europe, America and Australia.

Ashersons’ attorneys and staff pride themselves on delivering a comprehensive, personal and tailor made service to its clients. With fast turn around time, focus and attention to detail, Ashersons has maintained its reputation as a leading South African law firm.

One of our partners, Selwyn Zackon, gives a brief introduction into Ashersons Attorneys.

Meet our professional team Contact Us

Our professional team of lawyers are ...

Proud to be part of a 100 year old firm

Ashersons was established in 1920 by Raphael Asherson. Since then, Ashersons has grown into a full service boutique legal practice. All of our professional team commenced articles at the firm. Our faithful receptionist, Fatima, has been at the firm for over 40 years and Golda, our conveyancing specialist who has since retired, worked at the firm for just less than 50 years!

Passionate about the law

In the same way that our bookkeepers are passionate about bookkeeping, our receptionist is passionate about communicating with people, and our tea lady is passionate about tea - all of our staff (professional and our amazing support team) are passionate about the law and about providing the best legal service possible to clients.

More than happy to go the extra mile

Going the extra mile is defined as doing more without being asked. We believe that going the extra mile for clients is important and sets us apart from the average law firm. We understand that people who are happy in their career are not only more productive, but they are more likely to go the extra mile - even when it is not asked or expected of them.

Aware that time is money and people are cost sensitive

According to the old proverb, “time is a valuable resource, therefore it's better to do things as quickly as possible.” We believe that being able to deliver a quality product at a reasonable fee is of utmost importance in ensuring a long-term relationship with clients. Doing something properly the first time saves not only time, but also money and patience.

Recent articles by our team

Every week we post an article which we think may be of interest to clients on a wide range of topics, including property law, estate planning, recent High Court cases, damages claims, liability claims, etc.

Friends and Lovers: Before You Lend Out Your Car…

October 2, 2020

What happens if you lend your car to a friend (or, as happened in the High Court dispute we will refer to, a lover) who refuses point blank to give it back when asked to do so? Can you simply go to court and say “Here are the registration papers. They prove that it’s my car so no matter what, I am the owner and entitled to get it back, end of argument”? That might seem logical but as we shal...

Home Businesses – Is Yours Legal?

October 2, 2020

The concepts of working from home and running home businesses have always been with us, but never before have they played such a central role in our lifestyle and property choices. After looking at “what’s hot” in the resultant property market trends, we’ll discuss what our laws have to say about the legality of conducting any one of three categories of business operations from residential prem...

Landlords and Tenants: Alert Level 1 and the New Eviction Rules

October 2, 2020

Landlords and tenants alike should understand the regulations applicable to tenant evictions during the National State of Disaster. Many tenants are of course finding it hard to meet their monthly rental commitments, whilst landlords still have to fund their ongoing expenses and will be keen to be rid of problem tenants preventing them from doing so. That requires a careful balancing act, an...

Is Your Will Valid?

October 2, 2020

We live in particularly dangerous times, and making sure that our affairs are in order is perhaps even more vital for us all than before. Leaving a will in place is of course the only way to properly protect your loved ones after you are gone. Take steps now to ensure that it will be accepted as valid and that there is as little danger as possible of it being challenged in any way. That’s no...

Options to Renew Leases – Risks for Landlords and Tenants

September 3, 2020

Leases often give tenants an option to extend or renew at the end of the current term, and tenants who lose sight of the value and importance of such an option are flirting with disaster. Tenants In a nutshell, when the time comes to exercise your option do comply fully with the clause’s requirements. Make sure also that you understand and accept the exact wording of the renewal clause before yo...

Buying a Business? Make Sure the Seller Publishes Notice of the Sale

September 3, 2020

With our economy in trouble and the ongoing pandemic and lockdown damaging more and more businesses by the day, sales by distressed companies and traders are likely to rocket. If you are a prospective buyer here, be aware of one particular danger lurking in the wings for you. Follow this rule to protect yourself - before you buy any business, its goodwill or assets forming part of the busine...

Directors, Trustees: Can You Hold Your AGMs and General Meetings on Zoom?

September 3, 2020

Regrettably the pandemic still shows no sign of going away any time soon, and the social distancing it has brought to our “new normal” leaves companies with a dilemma. How can you comply – safely and lawfully - with the Companies Act’s stringent requirements for the holding of Annual General Meetings and (where needed) interim General Meetings? The good news is that our South African legislatio...

Property: Don’t Pay Double Commission!

September 3, 2020

With many property sellers allowing multiple estate agencies to market their properties in their attempts to sell during what is still (for the moment at least) a buyer’s market, now is perhaps a good time to remind both sellers and buyers of the double commission danger. Consider this scenario – you mandate an agent who introduces a potential buyer to your property, but no acceptable offer res...

Property Subsidence: New Law, Strict Liability and Ubuntu

August 3, 2020

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare – your property starts subsiding and as the tell-tale cracks in the living room widen alarmingly, it begins to dawn on you that your whole house is at risk of collapse. The cause must, you decide, be your neighbour’s excavations for a new house/garage/swimming pool. You approach said neighbour for a friendly chat and a request to do something about it urgently. ...

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