Bookbinder Business Law

Managing Partner: Jeffrey Bookbinder
Number of partners: 9
Number of lawyers: 16
Languages: English, Setswana, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Bookbinder Business Law (BBL) was founded in 2010 and has grown from a core of 3 legal professionals to over 15; all with specialised knowledge and experience. BBLis a multidisciplinary corporate and commercial law firm that serves clients across all sectors and along the entire breadth of the corporate-commercial spectrum. It is widely considered, locally and internationally, as one of Botswana’s preeminent law firms. BBL is Botswana’s largest law firm by number of legal practitioners.

BBL’s multidisciplinary Corporate Department, led by Jeffrey Bookbinder (Managing Partner) and Andre Bell (Head, Corporate Department) is the largest corporate team in Botswana, boasting four partners, one associate, and three candidate attorneys.

Jeffrey Bookbinder is recognized in numerous international directories as one of Botswana’s leading corporate legal advisors, having achieved numerous highlights for his banking and finance, mining, M&A, as well as insolvency & restructuring work.

Andre Bell is recognized in numerous international directories as one of Botswana’s leading project finance/ mining legal advisors, and is also widely considered one of the country’s eminent banking and finance lawyers.

BBL’s Corporate Department has a strong track record in the following practice areas:

Corporate and M&A
· M&A (joint ventures, partial takeovers and share transfers, spin-offs, private bids and acquisitions)

Banking and Finance
· Project Finance (power, mining, and utilities projects)
· Banking (corporate financing, revolving credit, real estate/asset/trade financing, acquisition financing)
· Asset Finance (including aircraft asset financing)

Restructuring and Insolvency
· Corporate restructuring
· Corporate rescue
· Debt/financial restructuring
· Insolvency proceedings
· Representation of distressed companies, shareholders, creditors, and liquidators/statutory managers/judicial managers

Capital Markets
· Capital markets: Debt (bond/note issuances)
· Capital markets: Structured finance and securitization (cross-border financing structures; establishment of SPVs)

Project Development
· Utilities (public procurement; PPPs; water)
· Mining (EPC; land acquisitions; mineral concession agreements; licensing; project negotiations)
· Power (renewable and traditional energy, generation and distribution; public procurement; PPPs; PPAs; land acquisitions; licensing; EPC; concession agreements)
· Capital markets: structured finance and securitization (cross-border financing structures; establishment of SPVs)

Financial services regulatory
· Advice on regulatory issues in the establishment of new financial products, branches and entities
· Regulatory advice relating to financial sector M&A

BBL’s Dispute Resolution Department is best known for its flexibility and breadth of experience in litigation of commercial disputes and arbitrations.

The department has been of assistance to the biggest blue chip clients across various sectors such as banking and finance, agriculture, construction and mining.

The department’s composition, boasting six partners, two associates and one candidate attorney, lends itself to creative solutions to seemingly impossible circumstances, which assists the firm’s clients to use leverage to explore and secure the most commercially responsible conclusions possible.

The department has a strong track record in the following practice areas:

Insolvency & Restructuring:
• Liquidations;
• Judicial management; and
• Séquestrations.

Employment & Labour Relations:
• Disciplinary process;
• Redundancies, termination and mutual separation.

Arbitrations:
• Construction disputes; and
• Commercial disputes.

Recoveries:
• Debt recovery and restructuring;
• Repossession applications; and
• Guarantee and security issues.

Arbitration
Given the confidential nature of arbitration, specific examples are not being provided. Mr Bookbinder was the Vice-Chair of the Botswana Institute of Arbitrators and a key member in drafting the extant procedural rules. Mr Bookbinder has chaired numerous FIDIC Dispute Adjudication Boards for infrastructure projects and sat as an arbitrator on a number of disputes. BBL has acted in a number of disputes submitted to resolution by arbitration both in the construction industry and in the commercial sector.

BBL maintains relationships with leading regional and international firms. Through these relationships we increase the pool of legal resources that can be made available to our clients. The BBL team brings together the best of local experience and international standards to the Botswana corporate commercial market. Our relationships with international firms have allowed BBL to gain access to support services including associate training, secondment to group offices, electronic knowledge management, commercial precedents and library resources. BBL is a former member firm of Bowmans.

BBL maintains close professional links with the following regional law firms:

• Bowmans
• ENSafrica
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
• Webber Wentzel (in alliance with Linklaters)
• Werksmans

In addition, BBL maintains close professional links with the following international law firms:

• Slaughter and May
• CMS (law firm)
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
• Baker & McKenzie
• Allen & Overy
• DLA Piper