The SA Professional Services Awards (SAPSA) has crowned Tshepo Shabangu ‘Law Professional of the Year for 2019/2020’ in the fifth edition of its annual awards. The entire team at Spoor & Fisher is delighted by Tshepo’s achievement, which highlights both her remarkable individual accomplishments and the exceptional calibre of our firm as a whole.

Individuals were judged on a host of attributes, including demonstration of leadership skills, changing of paradigms, and innovation within the bounds of available resources. Following a rigorous adjudication process, the judges had the following to say about Tshepo:

“Tshepo Shabangu is arguably a great asset to both the company she works for and the profession to which she belongs. We noted her contribution to the profession as the past president of SAIIPL and sitting on the Council of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces (LSNP) [now the Legal Practice Council], the regional body regulating attorneys in South Africa. She is an outstanding example for women in the legal profession, having been recognised internationally by WIPR in their inaugural listing of influential women in IP. Her leadership philosophy is collaborative yet bold and sensible…”

Tshepo is a Trade Mark Practitioner, with BProc and LLB degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an LLM magna cum laude from the University of Bonn, Germany.

She is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and a Notary Public, with over two decades of experience in the local and international selection, clearance, prosecution and registration of trade marks.

She also has expertise in trade mark audits, IP portfolio management and due diligence investigations, as well as drafting IP related agreements and policies. She has extensive knowledge in corporate governance, having sat on boards of various trusts and companies.

Tshepo’s market recognition, in addition to this latest accolade, includes ‘Influential Women in IP’ from World IP Review 2019, ‘Best Women in Law (IP)’ from Woza Women in Law 2019 and ranking in the Legal 500 of 2019. In addition to having published, spoken and served prolifically both locally and globally, Tshepo speaks eight languages including German.

Watch Tshepo’s acceptance speech here: https://youtu.be/RGwiW5fEuLY