About us

Ms Nicolene Schoeman founded Schoeman Attorneys. An admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, she is also a conveyancer, notary public and broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) consultant.

She obtained her LLB degree cum laude and successfully completed her LLM degree (dissertation) in commercial law and B-BBEE at the University of the Free State. She is presently registered for a postgraduate diploma in certified financial planning (CFP) at the University of Stellenbosch.

An abstract of her LLM dissertation was published in the Journal for Estate Planning in 2006 and is regularly published in De Rebus, the SA attorneys’ journal.

Ms Schoeman lectured at the University of the Free State for two years and currently presents seminars and workshops on a wide range of legal topics for organisations such as the Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA), Old Mutual Private Wealth, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mining In-House council and the Women’s Hope, Education and Training Trust (WHEAT). In line with her commitment to community support, she is also a WHEAT trustee.

Ms Schoeman has won a number of prestigious awards for her academic achievements. Among others, they include the:

• Hofmeyr Herbstein Gihwala Inc. Prize
• Gildenhuys van der Merwe Prize
• Juta Prize
• The Bobbert Medal (for obtaining her LLB degree cum laude)

In addition to her academic achievements, Ms Schoeman was a finalist in the Professional category of 2012’s Regional Business Achievers’ Awards (RBAA) – Western Cape. She writes regularly for legal and mainstream publications such as The Entrepreneur magazine, and has a regular slot on SAfm’s The Law Report with Karen Key.

Her professional and other affiliations include:

• Cape Law Society (member number: 13546)
• Cape Town Attorneys’ Association
• National Association of BEE Consultants (NABC) 
• Businesswomen’s Association (BWA) (Cape Town Branch) 
• Fine Women Business Network
• Xtraordinary Women (member number: XWCT008)
• Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (member number: 9861)
• Institute for Directors of Southern Africa (membership number 050148)

Community involvement:

Ms Nicolene Schoeman is a trustee of the WHEAT trust.

Mr Mzo Tshaka holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree (majoring in Politics and Public Administration) and an LLB, both from the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is currently registered for an LLM in Commercial Law with UCT and has a number of qualifications in Commercial Law. He was admitted as an attorney in February 2005.

Mr Tshaka practised as an associate at his first firm before joining his second firm as a professional assistant in 2006. He was appointed a director of that firm in 2008 and held this position until April 2012, when he became a consultant to the firm.

Mr Tshaka specialises in all aspects of commercial law, contract law and commercial litigation in both the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court as well as other forums. He has extensive experience in drafting contracts, contractual disputes, corporate debt recovery, evictions, and general litigation.

Among his achievements, Mr Tshaka was invited by the Irish Law Society, in conjunction with the Law Society of South Africa, to take part in a two-month internship at a commercial law firm in Ireland. Here, he spent time at the solicitor’s office of the Irish transport company, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ).

Mr Tshaka also holds directorships in a number of non-profit organisations and is currently the Deputy Chairperson of the Black Management Forum in the Western Cape.

His professional and other affiliations include:

• Cape Law Society (membership number: 12214)
• Black Management Forum
• Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (member number: 9861)

Ms Ostler is an admitted Attorney, Conveyancer and Notary Public of the High Court of South Africa. She holds a BA degree in Law and Psychology, an LLB degree and an MCom degree in Taxation from Rhodes University. The title of her Master’s mini-thesis was “The impact of estate planning on the effectiveness of estate duty as a wealth tax in South Africa”.

After completing her articles, Ms Ostler worked as an Attorney and the Legal Practice Co-ordinator at the Rhodes University Law Clinic. She has also acted as a consultant Notary, a Rhodes University Proctor and a member of the Rhodes University Disciplinary Committee.

Before attending university, she worked in the insurance industry in the United Kingdom for two years.

Her professional and other affiliations include:

• Cape Law Society (member number: 15857)
• Businesswomen’s Association (BWA) (Cape Town Branch) 
• Fine Women Business Network
• Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (member number: 9861)

Mr Sageer Pansari is our candidate attorney.

Sageer spent the early part of his career working at a number of blue-chip financial services companies in Cape Town, primarily in the asset management industry. During this time, he completed a BA degree as well as an LLB degree through the University of South Africa.

These experiences gave him an invaluable insight into the world of finance and investments. As a keen entrepreneur, Sageers’ passion for development economics inspired him to start his own business at an early age. Committed to uplifting communities, he also acted as a mentor to start-up businesses operating under the Umsombomvu Youth Fund.

Sageer has lived in several different countries such as the United Kingdom, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

His professional and other affiliations include:

• Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (member number: 9861)
• Cape Town Candidate Attorneys’ Association
• The Black Lawyers Association

As Managing Director of Pétanque Consultancy, Michélle leads a team of business professionals who provide Project, Process, Change and Monitoring and Evaluation Management services. These services are complementary to the legal services provided by Schoeman Attorneys and are available to their clients as well.

Michélle utilises her ability to make complex matters easier to understand, distilling information into who, what, when and how.  Her strength is in making complex business issues easy to grasp and implement. She endeavours to create fun, easy to understand storyboards and process maps and purpose focused project management tools for enterprise communities. To this end she developed the unique VizPro a process mapping methodology.  Her passion is facilitating meaningful participation for business owners in the global economic environment.

Michélle holds a Ph.D in Commerce in addition to undergraduate degree in Law, is a PMI certificated Project Manager Professional, an NQF Assessor/Moderator and also serves as a Council Member at the Cape Chamber of Commerce.

Dr Booysen has won several awards and accolades including:

• Winner of the Technology for Women in Business in 2011 (Small Companies Category),
• Most recently, was :
  • awarded the prestigious CEO Magazine’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Government, SME category for 2012.
  • A finalist in the 2012 TOPCO Top Women Successfully Leading Business, SME Award
  • A finalist in the 2012 Sanlam Business Partners’ Entrepreneur of the Year.