How it all began
Jeanette Bouverie, the founder of Bouverie Attorneys Inc., moved to Johannesburg from Cape Town in 2007 with the intention of starting a law firm that could offer affordable legal services, something Bouverie Attorneys has maintained over time.
The first office was in the heart of the Johannesburg CBD in 2008. There was a huge influx of refugees, displaced or migrant people due to the political crises in their country and families, mothers and children and professionals were sleeping in the street with all of their belongings beside them. There was also a crisis at the refugee centres where applicants were standing in long queues overnight to be attended to. There was a general abuse of African migrants through the system and large scale corruption.
It was in this context that Bouverie Attorneys began to support communities with legal services and beyond, oftentimes attending to the human side of care such as offering hungry clients a meal and hot drink. Bouverie Attorneys Inc., is a rights-based firm with a human-centered approach that strongly promotes a just and fair legal system that is of service to the community within which we operate as well as the broader South Africa.
Jeanette spent most of the lockdown period supporting her clients through the difficult circumstances that they found themselves in such as applying for business relief. None of this was paid work. Bouverie Attorneys is now re-establishing itself in a new locale to continue assisting existing and new clients.