CEO – CCASA

Lawyer & Admitted Attorney

Alison Lee currently is a partner at the law firm Lee Attorneys situated in Northcliff, Gauteng, which was established in 2000 by Christopher Lee.

Compliance Consultant and Processor

Alison in addition runs a successful legal compliance consultancy company, which provides legal training and legal compliance soft ware and customized compliance databases, under the name and style Lee’s Legal Compliance Services.

CEO – CCASA

Alison holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Corporate Counsel Association of South Africa (CCASA) which association represents the common interests of all corporate legal advisors and corporate counsel in South Africa – an appointment that was effective 1 October 2004.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Prior to re-entering the practicing legal profession, Alison worked as a legal advisor. She held the position as Legal Manager at BAT SA between the period 1991- 1996 and thereafter headed up the Legal Department at SAB Limited until August 2004.

Alison, although having completed her studies at the University of Natal (PMB); and articles at ER Browne Inc in Pietermaritzburg, is a born and bred Gautenger who loves living in the city that never stops.

CURRENT AREAS OF EXPERTISE

General

Having worked in a commercial environment, Alison’s expertise is broad and wide and covers a variety of legal topics including commercial and corporate law, in particular the law of contract, IP and advertising law, IT and electronic communication laws, risk management, corporate governance and in particular – legal compliance.

Corporate Governance

Alison sat on the King III subcommittee who was responsible for the drafting of Chapter 6 (Compliance with laws) housed under the King III Code of Corporate Governance.

Compliance and Risk

Alison has over the past 7 years established a reputable Legal Compliance practice. Services and products offered include general consultancy and advisory services on legal compliance in general, the compilation of, and structuring of regulatory universes and compliance frameworks for companies and entities in the public and private sectors, the compilation of compliance and risk matrixes, checklists, summaries, polices and codes of practice.

Compliance and Risk Software & Tools

Alison has developed a leading compliance software tool, which trades under the name and style “The Legal Team”, which software tool is designed to assist a legal entity and its respective leaders, directors, executives, employees and contractors with their respective compliance duties and responsibilities.

The software tool is customised for each client providing each employee of that client with a list of all South African Laws (Acts and Regulations) which he or she should comply with, which law is unpacked and summarised in layman terms in a straight, simple and concise manner.

Contract Drafting

Alison has drafted and reviewed a number of legal agreements and documents for clients, including policies and procedure, shareholder agreements, MOI’s, employment contracts, service agreements and franchise agreements.

Company Law

In response to the Corporate Law Reform Program, which started in 2004, and the subsequent release of the new Companies Act, 2004, Allison has spent the past 2 years reviewing and getting to grips with this vast piece of legislation.

Alison has produced a number of self help legal compliance products, which have been developed as a result of this intensive exercise, which include an in-depth guideline on the Companies Act, 2004, gap analysis and implementation guides as well as training programs for directors and executives, company secretaries and legal advisors.

Consumer Protection Laws

Alison has provided advice to a number of companies on the effects of the recently released Consumer Protection Act, 2004.

Alison has written a Manual and guide on this new piece of Law, which has been written with the layman in mind.

Alison also runs a variety of workshops on the topic and has developed an interactive and e-learning product made up of a variety of modules, all which cover and unpack the effects of this new piece of law.

Lee’s Compliance Training

Alison loves passing her knowledge onto others and to this end runs and offers a variety of legal courses and workshops.

Topics include, the Consumer Protection Act, the Companies Act, Corporate Governance, Health and Safety management and laws, Environmental management and laws, Legal Compliance and the art of processing compliance, IP and electronic communications and Contract drafting and management.

In House Counsel

Having being a legal advisor, in her past career, Alison is well aware of the challenges which in-house counsel face on a day-to-day basis.

Alison mentors and provides guidance through the CCASA office to over 500 South African legal advisors who are employed by or who work for the public and private sector.

She also liaises and networks on a regular basis with In House Counsel Associations who represent legal advisors and general counsel situated in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

MEMBERSHIPS

Alison is a member of the Legal Practice Council.

Alison is a co-founding member of the Association known as In-house Counsel World Wide, (ICW), which represents in-house associations around the globe.