Fasken (incorporated in South Africa as Bell Dewar Inc.)

Fasken, once styled Fasken Martineau, is an international business law firm. In South Africa, Fasken trades under the Fasken name but remains incorporated locally as Bell Dewar Inc., a reminder of the Johannesburg firm Fasken joined forces with.

Registered name

Fasken (incorporated in South Africa as Bell Dewar Inc.)

Type

Law firm (international business law)

Fields funded

Law (LLB)

Website

fasken.com

The Bell Dewar merger

Bell Dewar, founded in Johannesburg in 1889, built particular strength in mining, energy, infrastructure and project finance work across Africa. Fasken announced a merger with Bell Dewar in October 2012, and the merger took effect on 1 February 2013, according to a provider record checked in August 2026.

The combination paired Fasken’s international network with Bell Dewar’s local expertise in mining, energy, infrastructure, finance and corporate deals. Fasken’s Johannesburg office, based in Sandton, became one of the larger law firm operations on the continent.

About this page’s research

Fasken’s website blocked BursariesAfrica’s research tools on 15 September 2026. This page draws on the provider record and on BursariesAfrica’s earlier guide to the bursary, which still carries the older Fasken Martineau and Bell Dewar name. Confirm details on fasken.com in a normal browser.

The Fasken bursary

Fasken’s South African practice has offered a bursary to law students who are studying, or plan to study, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. Law firm bursaries of this kind usually connect to the firm’s candidate attorney programme, where graduates complete the practical training needed to qualify as attorneys.

Our Fasken bursary guide has not been refreshed with 2027 dates, so treat its details as background.

How to research Fasken before applying

Visit the South Africa section of fasken.com and read about the firm’s mining, energy and infrastructure work, because those areas grew out of Bell Dewar’s history and remain central to the Johannesburg office. Law students interested in resources and project finance law have a natural reason to choose Fasken.

Contact Fasken’s Sandton office or graduate recruitment team to ask whether a bursary will run for 2027, which year levels qualify, and whether the bursary requires articles at Fasken. Ask as well about vacation programmes, which many large law firms run for students in their penultimate or final LLB years.

International law firms also offer the chance to work with lawyers in other countries, so ask Fasken whether candidate attorneys in Johannesburg join matters involving the firm’s offices abroad.

Law students can compare Fasken with other firms on our LLB bursaries page.