ABOUT

The Bridge Group of Advocates has an illustrious history. Founded in the inner city of Johannesburg in 1971, it is one of the oldest groups of advocates at the Johannesburg Bar.

The Group has, as our name signifies, bridged the chasm from the darkness of apartheid to the sunshine of constitutional democracy.  It is today a vibrant and demographically transformed group of over 75 advocates. We are currently housed in freshly renovated, modern chambers in Sandown Village, opposite the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

We pride ourselves on providing advocacy that is both excellent and principled.

Members of the Bridge Group of Advocates practice in all fields of law, including commercial, public, competition and labour law, with many members being renowned in their fields of practice.

EMINENT MEMBERS

The Bridge Group is proud to count among its esteemed alumni the likes of the late Judge Anton Mostert, the late Judge President Fikile Bam, Judge Richard Goldstone, former Judge Johann Kriegler and Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland.

It is a source of great pride that the Bridge Group has, over the past five decades, produced no less than 13 judges: Anton Mostert, Fikile Bam, Richard Goldstone, Johan Kriegler, the late Sureta Snyders, who was the first woman to serve on the then Appellate Division, Lewis Goldblatt, Rex Van Schalkwyk, Percy Blieden, Fritz Van Oosten, Piet Meyer, Sharmin Ebrahim, Robert LaGrange and Roland Sutherland.

LIVING OUR VALUES: THE BRIDGE GROUP’S PROGRAMMES

The Bridge Group of Advocates pioneered the Junior Associate Programme, for which it has become renowned.  The JA Programme, as it is generally known, provides significant subsidisation to deserving junior advocates, who occupy shared Scottish chambers, affording them the space and financial support to kickstart their practices.

In addition to this the Bridge Group of Advocates gives all first year members, including JA members, a group fee holiday for their first three months of practice.

This dovetails with the 97 day period for which first year members must almost invariably wait for their first pay cheque.

More recently, the Bridge Group of Advocates has established two flagship projects for our junior members in their first two years of practice. 

The first is the Junior Development Fund. This is funded by contributions from Group members and provides paid junior briefs for junior members on a rotational basis.

The second is the Mentorship Programme which allocates mentors to junior members of the Group on a rotational basis for the first two years of practice.

The Bridge Group of Advocates also runs a vibrant seminar programme, which includes both training seminars for our members and seminars presented by external speakers on topical issues at which discussion and debate is encouraged.

LIVING OUR VALUES: OUR PROGRAMMES

The Bridge Group pioneered the Junior Associate Programme, for which it has become renowned. The JA programme, as it is known, provides significant subsidisation to deserving junior advocates, who occupy shared Scottish chambers, affording them the space and financial support to kickstart their practices.

In addition to this the Bridge Group gives all first year members, including JA members, a group fee holiday for their first three months of practice. This dovetails with the 97 day period for which first year members must almost invariably wait for their first pay cheque.

More recently, the Bridge Group has established two flagship projects for our junior members in their first two years of practice.  The first is the Junior Development Fund. This is funded by contributions from Group members and provides paid junior briefs for junior members on a rotational basis. The second is the Mentorship Programme which allocates mentors to junior members of the Group on a rotational basis for the first two years of practice.

The Bridge Group also runs a vibrant seminar programme, which includes both training seminars for our members and seminars presented by external speakers on topical issues at which discussion and debate is encouraged.

OUR HISTORY

The Bridge Group of Advocates was founded in 1971 and was first housed on the 4th floor of Innes Chambers in the inner city of Johannesburg. As was the convention at the time, the Group styled itself by its address and was known as Group 444.

Rob Wise SC, a founder member of Group 444, remains an honorary door member of the Bridge Group of Advocates today.

Upon the establishment of Group 444, Wise SC recruited Anton Mostert SC and Richard Goldstone into the Group. Mostert SC became the Group’s first leader and led the Group until he was elevated to the bench in 1974. Thereafter Johan Kriegler SC led the Group until he became a judge in 1985.

Carol Bruyns, who was amongst a small number of women practicing at the Bar during that time, was also a founder member of Group 444. Bruyns left the Bar in the early 1980s to pioneer the establishment of the Public Defender’s office in Johannesburg.

Smeath Thomas was among the eccentrics who populated Group 444 in its early days. He was reputedly fluent in Latin and was frequently accompanied to chambers by his Basset Hound called “Judge.”

Roland Sutherland joined Group 444 in 1977 and recalls how at the time, there were 5 women and 3 black advocates at the Johannesburg Bar. One of these was Fikile Bam who served pupillage in Group 444 in 1979 with Rex Van Schalkwyk. Shortly thereafter, however, Bam was banned from practicing in Johannesburg by the iniquitous Group Areas Act. Bam went on to become a renowned human rights lawyer at the Legal Resources Centre in Port Elizabeth and the first Judge President of the Land Claims Court.

Innes Chambers was Group 444’s home until 2001, when the great legal exodus to Sandton was in full swing. Opinion in Group 444 was however divided on moving, and the Group did not join the early waves of the migration. Ultimately it was decided to “bridge the divide” and keep chambers in both the inner City and in Sandton. The name “the Bridge Group of Advocates” was coined. The City pillar of the Bridge was lost when the Innes Chamber lease came to an end, but the name has remained.   

Over the years “the Bridge Group of Advocates” has become imbued with metaphysical meaning and has come to represent, not just the connection between our members, but the connection between the past and the present, in a transformative sense, from the darkness of our country’s past to the promise of the future, from segregation to diversity, from division to solidarity.

Following the migration to Sandton, the Bridge Group of Advocates was, from 2001 to 2021, housed in the Chambers Building in Protea Place.

The Covid 19 pandemic hit the Bridge Group of Advocates hard and in 2021 it became necessary for the Group to downsize and occupy smaller premises. Sandown Chambers in Sandown Village, previously occupied by Group 621, was identified as our new home.

The Bridge Group of Advocates move, however, sparked excitement across the Bar, and garnered no less than 20 new members. In a beautiful twist of irony the downsize became an upsize. And so it is that the Bridge Group of Advocates now occupies 3 floors in the freshly renovated Sandown Chambers building in its third incarnation.

OUR HISTORY

The Bridge Group was founded in 1971 and was first housed on the 4th floor of Innes Chambers in the inner city of Johannesburg. As was the convention at the time, the Group styled itself by its address and was known as Group 444.

Rob Wise SC, a founder member of Group 444, remains an honorary door member of the Bridge Group today.

Upon the establishment of Group 444, Wise SC recruited Anton Mostert SC and Richard Goldstone into the Group. Mostert SC became the Group’s first leader and led the Group until he was elevated to the bench in 1974. Thereafter Johan Kriegler SC led the Group until he became a judge in 1985.

Carol Bruyns, who was amongst a small number of women practicing at the Bar during that time, was also a founder member of Group 444. Bruyns left the Bar in the early 1980s to pioneer the establishment of the Public Defender’s office in Johannesburg.

Smeath Thomas was among the eccentrics who populated Group 444 in its early days. He was reputedly fluent in Latin and was frequently accompanied to chambers by his Basset Hound called “Judge.”

Roland Sutherland joined Group 444 in 1977 and recalls how at the time, there were 5 women and 3 black advocates at the Johannesburg Bar. One of these was Fikile Bam who served pupillage in Group 444 in 1979 with Rex Van Schalkwyk. Shortly thereafter, however, Bam was banned from practicing in Johannesburg by the iniquitous Group Areas Act. Bam went on to become a renowned human rights lawyer at the Legal Resources Centre in Port Elizabeth and the first Judge President of the Land Claims Court.

Innes Chambers was Group 444’s home until 2001, when the great legal exodus to Sandton was in full swing. Opinion in Group 444 was however divided on moving, and the Group did not join the early waves of the migration. Ultimately it was decided to “bridge the divide” and keep chambers in both the inner City and in Sandton. The name “the Bridge Group” was coined.

The City pillar of the Bridge was lost when the Innes Chambers lease came to an end, but the name has remained.

Over the years “the Bridge” has become imbued with metaphysical meaning and has come to represent, not just the connection between our members, but the connection between the past and the present, in a transformative sense, from the darkness of our country’s past to the promise of the future, from segregation to diversity, from division to solidarity.

Following the migration to Sandton, the Bridge Group was, from 2001 to 2021, housed in the Chambers Building in Protea Place.

The Covid 19 pandemic hit the Bridge Group hard and in 2021 it became necessary for the Group to downsize and occupy smaller premises. Sandown Chambers in Sandown Village, previously occupied by Group 621, was identified as our new home.

The Bridge Group move, however, sparked excitement across the Bar, and garnered no less than 20 new members. In a beautiful twist of irony the downsize became an upsize. And so it is that the Bridge Group now occupies 3 floors in the freshly renovated Sandown Chambers building in its third incarnation.

EMINENT MEMBERS

The Bridge Group of Advocates is proud to count among its esteemed alumni the likes of the late Judge Anton Mostert, the late Judge President Fikile Bam, Judge Richard Goldstone, former Judge Johann Kriegler and Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland.

It is a source of great pride that the Bridge Group of Advocates has, over the past five decades, produced no less than 13 judges: Anton Mostert, Fikile Bam, Richard Goldstone, Johan Kriegler, the late Sureta Snyders, who was the first woman to serve on the then Appellate Division, Lewis Goldblatt, Rex Van Schalkwyk, Percy Blieden, Fritz Van Oosten, Piet Meyer, Sharmin Ebrahim, Robert LaGrange and Roland Sutherland.