Webber Wentzel are designing what appears to be a beautiful building at a prime intersection – that of Rivonia Road and Katherine Street.  It is opposite the American Embassy and of course Sandton City and it is just a reminder that corporate firms practice in almost a different universe to smaller firms.  

I cannot imagine what the land (and building on it that was knocked down) at that location cost, let alone the building they are erecting which looks extremely impressive.  I use corporate attorneys for some of my own matters and when I see buildings like this I understand exactly why they also charge so much more than my own firm!  Ultimately of course, clients pay for what they get and big JSE listed firms with head offices and most of their senior staff working in Sandton, want to consult with their attorneys in Sandton and that is going to come at a cost, compared to shipping out, for example, to Vereeniging where the attorneys would be able, if they moved there, to render the same services at far less cost.  It has always fascinated me that people on the one hand do not want to visit their attorneys’ office in downtown Johannesburg and find staff sitting on broken chairs and using computers from 10 years ago and on the other hand, later complain about the higher fees that ends up going with the fancier offices and the extra service in terms of, for example, driving clients around to appointments.  It would make sense to me that everybody would understand that everything has a price to it and the more the background expenses are, the higher the fees will have to be for any business to then run at a profit.