Ryan Blewitt

I am a 34 year old male registered Financial Planner and was admitted as an Attorney in 2014. I have experience in commercial litigation, contract work, deceased estates and conveyancing. I was a senior associate until the end of 2019 whereafter I made the switch to financial planning. In this field, I assist individuals by managing their financial portfolios, which has proved to be most rewarding.

I joined the Hereford Group in 2020 where I received the award for the top performing academy member for the year. I have since done my class of business and RE5 as well as having been signed off supervision.

With regards to my legal background, I was a senior associate and head of the conveyancing department at Preshnee Govender Attorneys Incorporated, a medium sized law firm with branches in Durban, Cape Town and, Johannesburg which branch I was responsible for the management thereof. I have completed my BCom Law and LLB Degrees at the University of Johannesburg, served my articles of clerkship and was admitted as an attorney in August 2014. 

In my time at Hutcheon Attorneys and Preshnee Govender Attorneys Incorporated I took pride in providing clients with a personal and professional service while still ensuring that my contribution from a billing perspective covers my costs to company to which end I was always considered an asset. I strive to build strong working relationships with fellow employees as well clients and consider myself to be an extremely, approachable, outgoing and trustworthy person.

I enjoy taking on any new challenges or matters which I may not have dealt with in the past in an effort to grow my legal knowledge and better myself as a legal practitioner. Being involved in the litigation side of the legal field I work well under pressure and under time constraints in order to meet deadlines.

I am at a stage where I have the sufficient legal as well as financial background to approach new challenges whereby I can utilise my knowledge in both of these fields to add value to your business. 

I am currently with the Hereford Group, which is one of the largest financial intermediary firms in South Africa. We have branches across the country, as well as in Australia and Canada. We specialise in holistic financial planning. In this regard, we assist clients through the assessment and management of their entire financial portfolios, which comprises:

1. Short-term insurance and medical aid, which is facilitated by our internal short-term and medical aid brokerages;
2. Risk cover, comprising life cover, disability cover, income protection and dread disease cover;
3. Retirement planning;
4. Investments (we have inhouse investment specialists, who assist us in staying abreast of the best performing funds); and
5. Estate Planning.

I joined the Hereford Group in 2020 where I received the award for the top performing academy member for the year. I have since done my class of business and RE5 as well as having been signed off supervision.

While practising at Hutcheon Attorneys and Preshnee Govender Attorneys Incorporated I have gained extensive experience in the following fields of law:-

Civil Litigation

During my period of articles and post articles at Hutcheon Attorneys and Preshnee Govender Attorneys Incorporated I have been given a large amount of responsibility when it came to the running of civil and commercial litigation matters from institution to finalisation.

I have also been able to hone my skills at dictation and am capable of dictating letters, applications, notices and pleadings.

The large number of matters vary significantly in that I have instructed to institute action as well as defend matters dealing with causes of action that range from contractual disputes to personal injury claims.

With regard to motion proceedings I have drafted numerous applications such liquidation applications, sequestration applications, rehabilitation applications, applications to compel, rescission applications, applications for leave to appeal, review applications etc.

With regard to action proceedings I have drafted a variety of notices and pleadings which causes of action range from breach of contract to evictions.

I have run both Magistrate and High Court trials which involved the discovering of documents, consulting with witnesses, clients, expert witnesses and counsel.

Contract 

I have a keen interest and passion for contractual law which pertains to the drafting and vetting of contracts and have obtained experience and drafted the following:-

Sale of Business Agreements, Sale of Shares Agreements, Sale of Member’s Interest Agreements, Shareholders Agreements, Memorandums of Incorporation Agreements, Distribution Agreements, License Agreements, Supply Agreements, Applications for Credit Facilities, Services Agreements, Demolition Agreements, Contracts of Employment, Indemnity Agreements, Lease Agreements, Joint Venture Agreements, Consulting Services Agreements, Maintenance and Services Agreements, Independent Contractor Agreements, Termination Agreements, Loan Agreements, Site Clearance Agreements, Settlement Agreements, Sale of Immovable Property Agreements, Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements, Non-Circumvention Agreements, Franchise Agreements, Cession in Security Agreements and Restraints of Trade, Homeowners’ Association Constitution and Due Diligence Checklists for local and foreign companies.

Labour Law

I was given the responsibility to deal with the majority of the labour matters in comparison to the other associates employed by Hutcheon Attorneys.

I have obtained experience in drafting employment contracts, disciplinary codes of conduct, notices of suspension, notices of disciplinary hearings, chairing of disciplinary hearings, ensuring clients’ disciplinary procedures are in line with relevant labour legislation, drafting and submitting employment equity reports and plans, attending at the CCMA and bargaining councils for labour disputes. 

Company Law

I have assisted a number of clients with the formation and registration of companies with CIPRO.

I have assisted clients also with the liquidation of companies, sale of shares, sale of membership interests and shareholders agreements.

Conveyancing

While in the employ of Preshnee Govender Attorneys Incorporated I have been requested to run the conveyancing department involving the drafting of transfer documents, applying for rates clearance figures, bond cancelations, bond registrations and VA applications.I have taken the opportunity to broaden my current legal knowledge and attended to transfers ranging from ordinary sales, donations and estate transfers. I have completed my LEAD conveyancing course and am responsible for the registration of transfers for our Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban branches with very little support staff to assist me.

Trusts

I have experience in the drafting of trust deeds and the formation of business and inter vivos trusts as well as attending to have same registered at the deeds office.

BCom Law - 2008 (University of Johannesburg)

LLB - 2011 (University of Johannesburg)

RE5 - 2021  

Class of Business - 2021