CATHERINE WARBURTON BA LLB LLM (cum laude)
Managing Director – IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists (Pty) Ltd
Catherine Warburton established IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists (Pty) Ltd in the year 2000 and has acted as the Managing Director of IMBEWU for eighteen years.
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Catherine has more than twenty years of practical experience in the relatively new field of sustainability law in South Africa. Her experience has been mainly developed across a broad spectrum of infrastructure development and mining projects. She has also assisted NGO groups and government with legal advice and has provided input into governmental policy development in South Africa. Catherine has been involved in the environmental legal aspects of the Gautrain Project as specialist advisor since 2002 and has advised on a number of development projects and climate and energy related projects.
Whilst working as in-house Environmental Legal Counsel for Anglo American she completed a two and a half year international sustainable development training programme in 2001 entitled LEAD i.e. Leadership for the Environment and Development. In 2012 Catherine completed a Sustainability Reporting Course, certified by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). In 2013 she completed the GRI Certified Course based on the G4 reporting guidelines. Catherine completed her dissertation for her Master of Laws at Wits University in 2014 with distinction. The title of her dissertation was, “Evaluating South African EIA processes in the context of the Gautrain Project”.
Catherine has developed specific expertise in the area of climate change. She has attended UNFCCC meetings as a South African business representative and has worked on greenhouse gas mitigation and reporting projects in South Africa. She presents papers and training courses on a wide range of sustainability legal issues in South Africa. She provides strategic legal advice at the Board level, is currently advising on a number of mine closure projects and is acting in a criminal environmental prosecution.
From 2007 – 2012 the Practical Law Company in London rated Catherine as a “highly recommended” attorney in the field of environmental law in South Africa. From 2013 – 2018 Catherine Warburton has been listed as one of the Best Environmental Lawyers in South Africa by Best Lawyers SA, as published in the Business Day. She was ranked in the Chambers & Partners Guide (Environmental) on Band One from 2016 to 2018, Who’s Who Legal (Mining) in SA in 2015 and 2016, Who’s Who Legal (Environmental) from 2015 to 2019 and Who’s Who Legal (Climate Change) in 2018. The Chambers 2018 Guide indicates that she has an “incredible reputation” and describes her as an “extraordinary lawyer: a class act who is technically good, meets deadlines and keeps abreast of the law”. Catherine serves as the vice-Chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa’s Committee for Environmental Law and has been a member of the Gauteng MEC’s External EIA Appeals Advisory Panel from April 2015.
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Alistair Young (BA LLB LLM)
Senior Sustainability Legal Consultant – IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists (Pty) Ltd
Alistair Young is an admitted Attorney who completed his tertiary education at the University of Cape Town where he obtained a BA degree specialising in environmental science, a LLB degree, and a Master’s degree specialising in International and South African Environmental Law. His LLM dissertation focuses on the negative impacts of large dams on the environment and the curtailment of such impacts through the application of relevant international environmental conventions and indigenous environmental legislation.
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Alistair completed his articles through a general practice firm of Attorneys based in Cape Town and was, upon his admission as an attorney in the beginning of 2006, appointed as a professional assistant. Alistair operated in such capacity until his appointment at IMBEWU in March 2007.
Alistair specialises in environmental and health & safety-legal compliance evaluations (“audits”) of numerous industrial and mining operations throughout South Africa. He has also developed operation specific and user friendly pro-forma environmental audit questionnaires for various sectors including mining and retail.
He has also consulted with various municipalities on matters in connection with the establishment and ongoing management of UNESCO biosphere reserves in the Waterberg and Magaliesberg and has consulted with the Peace Parks Foundation on natural resource legislation harmonisation for the KAZA Transfronteir Conservation Area situated in Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He has developed a Protected Areas Legal Register to assist conservation based operations with legal compliance in relation to operation specific activities.
He provides assistance with all other services provided by IMBEWU, including risk assessments, evaluation of EIA reports, legal register training, South African legislation training, legal opinion drafting, providing general legal support and assisting with database maintenance. Alistair has also reviewed documentation for purposes of assisting clients with OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 certification.
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Luca Maraschin BSc LLB LLM (cum laude)
Junior Sustainability Legal Consultant – IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists (Pty) Ltd
Luca Maraschin obtained a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Geography degree (BSc) in 2013 and a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) (with distinction) in 2016 through the University of the Witwatersrand. He completed his Master of Law degree (LLM) (with distinction) in Environmental Law through Queen Mary University of London in 2018.
Luca worked at Massmart as an Intern in the Environmental Branch during the university school holidays in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and worked there on a full time basis from January 2017 to July 2017. His duties included environmental supplier profiling; sustainable commodity sourcing; research; drafting of legal reviews on human rights, labour and environmental law, as well environmental compliance standards and controls; the administration of a Group wide waste management compliance review; and compiling, in consultation with Warburton Attorneys, a legal opinion relating to the requirements governing the acquisition of effluent discharge permits in the retail sector. Luca left Massmart to pursue his LLM degree in London.
Luca also worked for Cullinan and Associates Inc in Cape Town as a Candidate Attorney from 1 October 2018 to 25 February 2019 where his duties included assisting senior attorneys with a number of environmental, heritage, and health and safety related legal matters.
Luca commenced work at IMBEWU Attorneys on 1 March 2019 as a Junior Sustainability Legal Consultant and assists the senior consultants with a wide range of environmental and health and safety legal matters.
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Nicole Kruger BA LLB LLM
Junior Sustainability Legal Consultant – IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists (Pty) Ltd
Nicole Kruger obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law (BA) in 2015 through the University of Pretoria. She completed a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) in 2017 and a Master of Law (LLM) in Public International Law in 2019 through the University of Johannesburg.
Nicole worked at the University of Johannesburg Law Clinic in 2017 where she gained experience in drafting, research and developing case strategies, consulting and advising clients. Nicole also worked for the University of Johannesburg as a Senior Tutor and Research Assistant for Banking Law and Intellectual Property in 2018.
Nicole commenced work at IMBEWU on 1 February 2019 as a Junior Sustainability Legal Consultants and assists the senior consultants with a wide range of environmental and health and safety legal matters including working on the IMBEWU SHE Legal Registers.
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Samantha Phillips
Office and Marketing Manager
Samantha Phillips has over 15 years’ experience in Marketing and Administration. She completed her IMM Diploma in Marketing and Management in 2007 and is IMBEWU’S Office and Marketing Manager. Samantha is also responsible for IMBEWU’s SHE Legal Registers and manages all of IMBEWU’s online content.
Nomhle Ngwenya
Receptionist
Nomhle Ngwenya is the receptionist and assists with office administration.
