Paul Russell

Paul is a Founding Director of Nortons Inc. Prior to this, he was a partner at Webber Wentzel. His primary areas of practice include all areas of competition law and competition litigation, commercial and general litigation, consumer protection and regulatory advice.

Having spent four years as Senior Legal Counsel at De Beers, Paul’s areas of expertise also include all regulatory issues relating to the diamond industry, in particular, the Diamonds Act, No. 56 of 1986, as amended (“the Diamonds Act”) and the Regulations published in terms of section 95 of the Diamonds Act; the Diamond Export Levy Act, No. 15 of 2007 and the Diamond Export Levy (Administration) Act, No. 14 of 2007.

Significant Litigation Transactions

•  Paul represented a large telecommunications company in a highly complex private arbitration in which it successfully defended a claim by an SOE, based on an alleged tacit contractual term, alternatively unjust enrichment, in excess of half-a-billion rand;
•  Paul represented one of the large international oil companies in a private arbitration (at both the a quo and appeal stages), in which it successfully defended a contractual damages claim in excess of half-a-billion rand;
• Paul represented WBHO in relation to the Competition Commission’s fast-track settlement process for the construction industry;
• Paul is representing WBHO in the City of Cape Town’s follow-on damages claim in relation to certain cover pricing arrangements in the context of the construction of the Greenpoint Stadium that formed part of the Competition Commission’s fast-track settlement process;