Malcolm Wallis

Malcolm Wallis (born 1950, Durban) graduated B Comm, LLB (cum laude) from the University of Natal (1972) as top law student and won the moot competition.  Admitted to the Bar in 1973, he took silk in 1985 and was counsel in over 100 cases in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and the Constitutional Court involving both public and private law. Chair of the General Council of the Bar (GCB) (1994-1997); co-chair of the Barristers’ Forum of the IBA (1998-2002); and held numerous offices in the IBA from 1998 to 2008. Honorary member of the Australian Bar and honorary bencher of the Honourable Society of Kings’ Inns in Dublin. He introduced advocacy training for all advocates in South Africa and continues to train advocates and new trainers, and as faculty on advanced advocacy training courses at Keble College and the Wallenberg, Stellenbosch.

Malcolm has published books on labour and employment law (1992) and maritime law (2011), the latter the published version of his Ph D from the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) (2010). He has published widely in legal journals around the world and spoken at conferences, both in and outside South Africa. Appointed a judge of the High Court (January 2009); the Labour and Competition Appeal Courts (2010) and the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2011, his was one of the most rapid elevations to the Appeal Court in South African legal history. He acted in the Constitutional Court in 2015. He has been an honorary professor in the School of Law at UKZN since 2011 and lectures and supervises LLM and Ph D students. Appointed Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Mercantile Law in the University of the Free State in 2014. He has been married to Janet since 1977 and they have three children and two grandchildren.  

Malcolm Wallis has also been appointed as Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College during his visit to Oxford.