Maisels Group Members

Legal Admission and Professional Milestones
• Admitted as an Advocate of the High Court: 1979
• Joined the Johannesburg Bar: 1982
• Took Silk (Appointed Senior Counsel): October 1995
• Full-time Legal Practice: Over 43 years

Professional Experience and Appointments
• Senior Advocate at the Johannesburg Bar: Extensive experience in civil litigation and arbitration, with a significant commercial practice.
• Academic Appointment: Began career as a Senior Law Lecturer at the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg).
• Judicial Service: Regularly serves as an Acting Judge in the High Court. Has appeared in all divisions of the courts in South Africa, as well as in the courts of the Republic of Namibia and Botswana.

Board Membership: Served on the Board of Governors of Michaelhouse School for 8 years.
• Arbitration and International Engagement:
o Serves on Panels of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
o Fellow of the Association of Arbitrators, regularly serves as arbitrator and adjudicator
o Panellist of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA), regularly serves as arbitrator

Current On-going Lead Counsel Matters
1. Large Commercial Dispute: Representing the leading European software company, SAP SE, in a dispute over R 12 billion, appeared in both the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal and currently pending in the Constitutional Court (instructed by SAP’s Head Office in Walldorf, Germany).
2. Cyber Fraud Case: A case before the Constitutional Court involving cyber fraud targeting of payments by conveyancers (milestone decisions involved).
3. Stilfontein Illegal Miners Case: Instructed by the Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources.
4. Environmental Litigation: Addressing illegal mining activities in the Chrissiesmeer wetlands.
5. Shareholder Dispute: Two separate disputes concerning the valuation of shares due on retirement of shareholder. One concerns an amount of R 1 billion and the other R 400 million.
6. Wine Farms Dispute: Involves a dispute over ownership and shareholding in two historical wine farms in the Cape. Estimated value in dispute R 50 million.
7. Defamation Interdict: An urgent interdict to prevent ongoing defamation of insolvency practitioners in the public electronic media.
8. Electricity Supply Dispute: A High Court case involving a multi-billion Rand on-going dispute between Eskom and the City of Johannesburg concerning charges for the supply of bulk electricity.
9. Various Opposed Motions and Arbitrations: Numerous ongoing matters.

Reported Decisions and Legal Impact
• Reported Decisions: More than 80 reported decisions in the Law Reports in which Cassie appeared as counsel, in addition to many unreported decisions, reflecting a significant contribution to South African jurisprudence.

Adv C H J Badenhorst SC is a highly experienced and respected legal practitioner with over four decades of full-time practice. His distinguished career spans academia, high-stakes litigation, arbitration, and judicial service, underpinned by an impressive academic record and a broad international legal footprint. His ongoing involvement in landmark cases and his role as an arbitrator underscore his standing as a leading authority in civil litigation and commercial dispute resolution.