Tim Mills is a member of the Litigation Department and is the Head of the Employment Law Department of Cliffe Dekker's Johannesburg office. Tim has assisted numerous major international and domestic corporations in a range of transactions in the employment law field. In addition to appearing in various tribunals and the High Courts in litigious matters, Tim has advised on the full gambit of employment law aspects in merger and acquisition transactions and corporate restructuring. Tim specialises in employment law, litigation and matrimonial law.

Tim began his career in 1984 as a candidate attorney at Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey Inc. In 1986, he was promoted to associate. Tim practiced for a year as an associate at Harvey Nossel & Partners in 1987. He joined Cliffe Dekker & Todd Inc as a senior associate in 1987 and was promoted to the position of director on 1990.

BA LLB (Rhodes University)
HDip Labour Law (Rand Afrikaans University)
Date of admission: 1986

• Advised on the merger of the two workforces, in the merger and acquisition between MWeb and Tiscali, and the subsequent restructuring and retrenchments and the assimilation of the conditions of employment of the two employers

• The restructuring of an operational division within CHC Chemicals (Pty) Ltd subsequent to an acquisition, including realigning and reducing employees remuneration in order to avoid the spectre of the retrenchment of 120 employees

• Advised South African Airways on an ongoing basis pursuant to the suspension and disciplining of executive employees, including representing South African Airways in the disciplinary processes and arbitration hearings

• Advised a listed entity on a large-scale restructuring, including realigning terms and conditions of employment in order to avert mass retrenchments, successfully defending the challenge to the restructuring process by the representative trade union in the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court

• Advised the South African Revenue Services and a major bank in South Africa on the outsourcing of significant IT components of their activities to third-party service providers and the affect thereof on their transitioned employees

• Undertook an investigation into alleged irregularities by executive employees of a US Corporation and advising on the disciplinary process and related matters

• Advised a listed entity in South Africa upon the resignation of a number of its executives and the subsequent breach by the executives of restraint of trade undertakings, including seeking urgent interdicts in the High Court of South Africa