Bio

Daniel Pretorius became a partner at Bowmans in 1998. He practises in the public law, regulatory and dispute resolution areas. He specialises in constitutional and administrative law, judicial review, education law, public procurement, media and telecommunications law, access to information, legislative drafting and interpretation of statutes. In addition to his specialist legal expertise, he brings to bear three key skills relevant to clients in highly regulated sectors or industries. First, he has his finger on the pulse of new and pending legislative and regulatory developments, enabling clients to prepare for changing compliance requirements. Second, Daniel has an exceptional ability to grasp the fine print of laws and regulations and interpret their actual meaning – which is not always immediately obvious – and the practical implications for clients. Third, he has excellent research skills, analysing legal documents and court judgments and distilling the essence into cogent legal opinions, practical advice, and submissions to regulators and policymakers. In addition to guiding clients on what to do to meet their compliance obligations, Daniel advises on their interactions with governmental and regulatory bodies and, when disputes arise over how regulators have exercised their powers, acts for clients in judicial reviews and other regulatory challenges. Daniel’s skill set has been informed by his experience as a lawyer, teacher and academic. In between practising law at Bowmans, he took a six-year sabbatical from legal practice to teach history and Latin at St John’s College in Johannesburg. He has also lectured part-time in the postgraduate Advanced Broadcasting Law course at the University of the Witwatersrand.