Our founding partner, Mr. Donaldson established Donaldson Attorneys in late 2020 after many years of working as first an attorney, and later an Advocate, in both private practice and various corporate positions. Despite our relatively short existence, we have already grown to such an extent that only two months after commencing trading, we already needed to appoint another attorney to assist with our rapidly expanding business. With our highly driven team and the mentorship of Mr. Donaldson, we expect to become one of the leading law firms in the country within the next 10 years.
Having completed his two honours degrees at the University of Cape Town, Mr Donaldson went on to complete his articles under the direct mentorship of William Booth (who acted as the Chairperson of the Criminal Law Society at the time and ran what is widely regarded as the top criminal law firm in Cape Town). Having thereafter run his own law firm for some time in Cape Town, Mr Donaldson accepted a corporate position in Johannesburg as a national litigation manager, before joining the Bar as an Advocate where he practiced primarily in Commercial and Labour Law. Thereafter, Adv Donaldson (as he was then) went on to head up The Labour Counsel as its Managing Director. Having done this for approximately five years, Adv. Donaldson converted back to being an attorney and immediately opened Donaldson Attorneys Incorporated which has seen exceptional growth based on its success rate and client relationships.
In a similar fashion to Mr Donaldson, Ms van Straaten has been employed as an attorney / Professional Assistant at two different law firms, as an Associate at The Labour Counsel and “Head of Legal” for a large corporation. As a result of the aforementioned, Ms van Straaten has excelled in debt collection and compliance management as well as Labour and Family Law. A notable competency of Ms van Straaten is corporate restructurings where she has experienced exceptional success, having furthermore recently won a contentious S189A dispute in the Labour Court where her accelerated process was unsuccessfully challenged by NUMSA. She provided her professional legal services in various fields of law including Commercial Work, Contracts, Civil & Criminal Law, Deceased Estates, Divorce, Maintenance, Evictions, Liquidations and Sequestrations and have made appearances on behalf of clients in various legal forums.
Mr Botha comes from a commercial background, having previously worked at two of the most successful labour consultancies in the country in corporate consultancy positions, Mr Botha however decided that he was not making the most of his LLB and therefore decided to initiate the process which would ultimately result in him becoming an admitted attorney. His corporate background gives him unique insights into legal practice and is an advantage that he enjoys over many of his colleagues.
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