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Megan Sturgeon

Director
About

Megan Sturgeon's practice embraces disputes from all forms of commercial litigation and includes corporate disputes, international and domestic arbitration, cross-border litigation, shareholder disputes, fraud and investigations.

Before joining DLA Piper, Megan was a director at a large South African law firm and later moved to the Netherlands to join a third-party litigation fund where her focus was on international commercial arbitration.

Megan is accustomed to addressing jurisdictional, enforcement and cross-cultural issues and works across all sectors, with particular experience in the industrials, consumer goods, food and retail, telecommunications, hospitality and energy and natural resources sectors.

Professional QualificationsAttorney of the High Court of South Africa

EXPERIENCE

  • Providing advice to and acting on behalf of a telecommunications company in respect of contractual dispute concerning alleged breach of warranties.
  • Providing advice on regulatory related matters in terms of the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 9 of 2017; Financial Markets Act, 19 of 2012.
  • Advising several private companies on reporting obligations in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 12 of 2004 (PRECCA).
  • Advising a foreign entity on the commercial implications of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 1998 (POCA) in relation to dividends which may constitute proceeds of a crime in South Africa.
  • Instituting delinquency proceedings against directors of a private company and a derivative action in terms of the Companies Act, 2008, due to the respondents’ breach of their fiduciary duties towards the company.
  • Conducting a confidential compliance investigation into non-compliance issues found with regards to Environmental, Health and Safety laws.
  • Defending a novel matter relating to alleged delictual liability resulting from a bank’s wrongful and negligent conduct in reversing EFT payments collected by debit order in Spar Group Ltd v Absa Bank Ltd.*
  • Successfully acted for Vodacom (Pty) Ltd (Vodacom) in opposing a review application brought by MTN (Pty) Ltd (MTN) to review and set aside Transnet’s tender process.*
  • Successfully instituting proceedings before the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to compel MTN to port all of Transnet’s cellphone numbers on its network to Vodacom pursuant to Transnet's tender process.*
  • Successfully opposing an appeal lodged against the environmental authorisation granted by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to a conservation non-profit company.*
  • Providing advice with regards to a reportable irregularity reported to the International Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA).*
  • Consulted in the Dieselgate class action proceedings where aggrieved car owners instituted action against a multi-national manufacturer who manufactured vehicles in violation of applicable environmental legislation.*
  • Consulted in Investment treaty claim concerning money laundering through bank accounts held in a Central Asian State and transferred to the State of Lithuania.*
  • Consulted in an investigation against a German industrial inspection company where claimants suffered a loss after the Brumadinho Dam Disaster when a tailing dam collapsed in Brumadinho Minas Gerais in Brazil and toxic sludge was released into the environment in contravention of the applicable environmental legislation.*
  • Consulted in an investigation where Claimants suffered loss after the Mariana Dam Disaster where the Fundao tailings dam collapsed in Brazil unleashing toxic waste.*
  • Consulted in a matter where Brazilian Orange farmers sued a number of companies in the industry engaged in colluding cartel behaviour where they shared competitive information to increase control of the market by excluding independent competitors.*

* Denotes experience from a previous firm

Languages
  • English
  • Afrikaans
Education
  • Stellenbosch University, BA (Law), 2003
  • Stellenbosch University, BA (LLB), 2008
  • Wits University: Certificate of Competence in Advanced Company Law I (cum laude)

Publications and media

  • Contributing writer on arbitration for "Getting the deal through", a legal publication providing legal analysis in various jurisdictions (2019)
  • Contributing writer on article: "Company Liability: Take adequate steps to prevent corruption or face criminal prosecution" (2024)
  • Panel member at event hosted by Uganda Law Society: Positioning Uganda as an attractive seat for international arbitration (2024)

Memberships and Affiliations

  • International Bar Association

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