DFO was founded in 1888 by Henry George Drake and Marius Toger Flemmer, both Boer War veterans. These “founding fathers” were succeeded by descendants who became partners at the firm. In 1910, DFO was appointed chief agents to the Royal Insurance Company (later known as Mutual & Federal).

As one of the oldest and largest established law firms in East London, DFO has an invariable reputation in the Eastern Cape and nationally, and strong maritime law connections internationally.

We are a proud member of the Phatshoane Henney Group of Associated Law Firms.

The Phatshoane Henney Group is the largest legal network in South Africa. Currently comprising of nearly 50 law firms with more than 60 offices in 9 provinces and over 500 professionals, the Group continues to grow year-on-year and expand its presence to major centres across South Africa.

The Group was founded in 2006 by Bloemfontein firm Phatshoane Henney Attorneys in response to an identified need of law firms to strategically position themselves for the future and access the economies of scale of a large group with national visibility and brand awareness. Membership provides firms with a range of benefits including vital support services, marketing infrastructure and strategic partnerships that create value, cost savings and business opportunities for firms.

Member firms are dynamic and prominent law firms in their respective regions and subscribe to the Group values of caring, innovation, expertise, standards and transformation – values which make each firm stand out as a New Breed of Law Firm. The Group brand has grown strongly since its establishment and has obtained recognition as a leading brand in the legal profession. The brand is complimentary to individual firm brands which it supports and strengthens by adding visibility and differentiation.

Members pool their resources and expertise to foster a national service directory and network of firms and professionals that are able to assist clients across South Africa. Group quality standards and best practices also provide clients with the comfort of working with experts who provide consistent value-adding legal services to their clients.

With a strong transformation imperative, the Group supports firms to transform and address vital aspects of BEE, employment equity, skills development and diversity; contribute to their communities;  develop their professionals;  and position firms as employers of choice with their staff.

The scale and purchasing power of the Group enables cost reductions, strategic partnership opportunities and negotiating power which benefit member firms and ultimately each firm’s clientele.

For more information on the Phatshoane Henney Group, its values, members and national service directory please visit www.phfirms.co.za.

The PH Group was established in 2006 by founding member firm PH Attorneys and has since evolved to become the Largest Legal Network in South Africa and the only network of its kind that caters exclusively to the needs of South African law firms.

The PH Group was established in response to an identified need of small and medium-sized law firms to form part of a larger network and so gain access to shared resources, expertise and economies of scale.

To ensure member firms aspire to the Group Standards and Values, PH Attorneys undertakes a member firm certification process every two years to review the adherence of member firms to the Group Standards. The certification process follows a comprehensive evidence-based review of each member firms’ adherence to the Group Standards.

Following such review, member firms that have excelled are recognised through the Group’s New Breed Law Firm Awards that provides recognition to top-performing member firms and acknowledges their progress to becoming New Breed Law Firms™. The awards are allocated after the completion of the bi-annual certification process and allows member firms to showcase their performance to their clients and staff. Each award is valid for two years from date of award.

We are proud to announce that our firm has in 2023 been awarded Gold Achiever status by the PH Group for achieving more than 80% compliance with the Group Standards. This achievement confirms that we are truly a New Breed of Law Firm™ and provides comfort to you, our client, that you are working with a leading, well-managed and compliant law firm that cares about you and your business. We have gone to great lengths to do so, and believe this Award confirms our commitment to you.

For more information on the PH Group and the Group Achiever Awards, please visit www.phfirms.co.za.

As a firm we value transformation and have positioned transformation as a central prerogative of our firm. We also fully subscribe to the national Group BEE Standards which apply to Phatshoane Henney member firms and are delighted by our collective efforts to help set the standard for transformation in the legal industry! View our latest Group Transformation Report for more information on our initiatives.

	>> View Group Transformation Report 2020/2021
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2018/2019
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2016/2017
	>> View Group Transformation Report 2015