Paul Coetser

• Being a Competition lawyer providing an exceptional range of legal services for the Competition law practice area

• Appearances before Competition Commission, Competition Tribunal, Competition Appeal Court and ICASA
• Obtaining of approval for mergers and takeovers from the competition authorities
• Laying and defending of complaints of alleged anti-competitive conduct e.g. cartels, abuse of dominant position and price discrimination
• Applications for leniency and for exemption from the Competition Act
• Conducting compliance audits and developing compliance programs
• Responding to summonses from the Competition authorities and search and seizure operations (dawn raids)
• Defending individuals against allegations of participation in cartels

Paul has advised in a number of industries and sectors including Information Technology, Media and Financial Services

• B Juris LLB LLM (University of South Africa)
• LLM (Virginia University)
• H Dip Tax Law
• 2009: Director, Werksmans
• Head of the Competition Law Practice Area

Highlights

• Ranked in Hall of Fame by Legal 500 | Competition | 2024
• Founding chairperson of the Competition Law Committee of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces
• Chairman of the Standing Committee on Competition Law of the Law Society of South Africa
• Africa Regional liaison of the International Bar Association’s Antitrust Committee (2009 - 2010)
• Convenor, speaker and participant at local and international conferences and seminars on competition law
• Appeared before Parliament’s Committee on Trade and Industry, proposing amendments to the Competition Act (2002 and 2008)
• Participated in several Focus Groups Workshops assisting the Competition Commission in developing new legislation, rules and regulations
• One of South Africa’s delegates to International Competition Network annual conferences (2006 - 2008)
• Comments regularly on Competition Law developments in the media
• Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers (2008)
• Ranked practitioner by Chambers Global | Band 2 | Competition/Antitrust | 2007, 2019 – 2022, 2024
• Ranked practitioner by Chambers Global | Corporate/M&A | 2009
• Ranked as a recommended practitioner by Who’s Who Legal | Competition | 2022
• Ranked as a highly regarded practitioner by IFLR 1000 | Competition | 2011 – 2019
• Ranked as a highly regarded practitioner by IFLR 1000 | Technology, Media and Telecommunications | 2022
• Ranked as a recommended lawyer by Legal 500 | Competition | 2011 - 2018
• Ranked as a leading lawyer by Legal 500 | Competition | 2019 - 2022