24
Years Experience
18
Years Independent
3
Academic Degrees
3
Legal Admissions
🎓 EDUCATION
10 December 1987
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Stellenbosch
Economics, Company & Commercial Law
13 December 1995
Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
University of Cape Town
Comprehensive legal education foundation
24 March 2000
Certified Financial Planner
University of the Free State
Higher Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law
⚖️ LEGAL ADMISSIONS
6 September 1996
Admission as Advocate
High Court of Western Cape
Right of appearance in superior courts
20 February 1998
Admission as Attorney
High Court of Western Cape
With right of appearance in superior courts
2 November 2009
Attorney Admission – Gauteng
High Court of Gauteng
Right of apperance extended to commercial center
🏛️ INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
April 2011 – Present
Sole Practitioner
Warner Attorneys
Comprehensive commercial and compliance solutions
- Financial sector regulation expertise
- PA and FSCA requirements guidance
- Bespoke compliance programs
- High-profile employment law disputes
June 2015 – June 2016
Contract Magistrate
Department of Justice
Civil trials & family violence matters
🏢 CORPORATE LAW FIRMS
March 2007 – March 2011
Director & Head of Departments
Fairbridges Attorneys
Led Gauteng Commercial & Civil Litigation departments
- Mentored junior attorneys
- Strategic litigation planning
March 2006 – February 2007
Associate, Head of Civil Litigation
Jones Kruger Van Reenen / Norval
Led department through firm transition
💰 FINANCIAL SERVICES
January 1999 – December 2001
Legal Advisor & Head of Sales 
Stanlib (Charter Life)
Regulatory compliance implementation
January 2002 – February 2003
Legal Advisor
FirstRand Group
Financial Advisory – Risk management & forensic investigations
📚 SPECIALISED PRACTICE
May 2004 – February 2006
Divisional Director – Sectional Title
Courtwell Consulting
Legal training programs for listed property companies
March 2003 – April 2004
Senior Manager, Sectional Title
Strategic Alliance Property
NAMA: founding member, regional chair | Parliamentary Land Affairs advisor
2009-2014
Specialised Courses
Various Institutions
Notarial
, Conveyancing
, Evictions and rental claims
, Mining Law
, French (DELF A2)
, Conveyancing
, Evictions and rental claims, Mining Law, French (DELF A2)🎖️ EARLY CAREER
1996-1997
Assistant Risk Manager
Attorneys Insurance Indemnity Fund
Professional indemnity & risk assessment: managed databases for implementing risk mitigation measures to attorneys, working with developers—early legal automation tech exposure
1997-1998
Candidate Attorney
A R Van Der Lith Attorneys
Articles completed: litigation, commercial transactions, and comprehensive legal practice exposure
1994-1995
Station Director
UCT Radio
Campus radio head: IBA (ICASA) license
& funding secured
& funding secured1988-1989
Army Officers Club
SA Defence Force
Chief Accountant: senior military liaison & financial management
1986-1995
Entrepreneurial Ventures
Hospitality Industry
Client relationship building, contract management, and business management and growth skills development
💻 TECHNICAL SKILLS
2023 – Present
Software Developer, Warner Attorneys Practice Manager
Self-directed
Sole architect and developer of a multi-tenant SaaS legal practice management platform (Laravel, Inertia, Svelte 5, MySQL), purpose-built for South African sole practitioners and small firms.
1993
Electronic Legal Research Training
University of Cape Town
Digital legal research methodologies
1989
Basic Computer Programming
Cape Peninsula University
Early technology recognition
🛠️ SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Ongoing
Application Development
Self-directed
PHP and Laravel architecture, routing, middleware and authorisation; Svelte front-end development; Inertia integration; multi-tenant and database-per-tenant application design; code review and defect correction.
Ongoing
Legal Accounting & Financial Controls
Self-directed
Double-entry accounting structures, business and trust accounting, chart-of-accounts design, bank statement import and reconciliation workflows, audit trails, and preventive controls against incorrect transaction allocation, with particular attention to the separation of trust and business records.
Ongoing
Database Design, Systems Analysis & Infrastructure
Self-directed
Relational database design in MariaDB and MySQL with tenant data separation and data integrity investigation; code and route-level review with functional analysis of workflows and transaction classification; Linux/Debian and WSL2 development environments, web hosting, deployment and infrastructure troubleshooting.
Ongoing
Principal Project: Legal Practice Management Platform
Self-directed
Ongoing development of a legal practice management and accounting platform for South African sole practitioners and small firms, bringing together client and matter management, business and trust accounting, financial reporting, bank reconciliation, document management, and FICA-related compliance workflows.