It is Webber Wentzel Bowens' (WWB) policy to advance black professional persons (and, indeed, black persons at all levels of its staff) as quickly as possible commensurate with their qualifications and abilities. The firm is involved in a number of initiatives aimed at advancing black professionals, both within and outside the firm, amongst which are the following:
- it is our policy to ensure that at least 60% of the annual intake of our candidate attorneys comprises black people;
- the firm has a number of formal and informal arrangements with black law firms in Johannesburg and Cape Town whereby the latter firms can turn to WWB for guidance and assistance on legal issues;
- WWB participates in the Integrated Bar Project, a programme designed to expose black law students to major commercial law firms;
- we second black attorneys to international law firms and have had successful secondments to Australia, the United States and England;
- the firm has introduced a mentorship programme internally which is aimed in the main at assisting in the development of the practices of black attorneys;
- WWB runs an English language bridging course to assist attorneys whose first language is not English;
- the firm offers scholarships on an annual basis to black law students studying at the major South African universities;
- we annually invite students at South African universities who are far advanced in their legal studies to take up winter vacation positions within the firm for a period of several weeks. The firm provides a practical work programme for the students to enable them to gain professional experience to compete in the entry-level job market.
