Sudden death of Julian von Klemperer (71)

The sudden death of lawyer Julian von Klemperer (71) last week has been described as a ‘great loss’ to the legal profession of SA, notes a report in The Witness. Born in Durban in 1946, Von Klemperer was admitted as an attorney in 1969. After a stint in the army, he went to the UK where he spent two years working for Theodore Goddard and Company. Von Klemperer returned to start his practice – Von Klemperer, Davis and Harrison Incorporated – in 1980. The firm was involved in numerous human rights cases, acting for the ANC in terrorism trials and representing Cosatu in various cases, including interdict applications against the police in the eighties. He was also a regular visitor to United Democratic Front detainees during the states of emergency. In 2012 his firm amalgamated with Shepstone & Wylie and he continued to practise as an executive consultant appearing regularly in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg. In a statement, Shepstone & Wylie said: ‘He was a well-known attorney throughout KZN, trusted and loved by his many clients. He was also deeply respected by his peers and colleagues in the profession and in the judiciary. His common sense and practical approach to law, coupled with his dry sense of humour and old-world manners, endeared him to all who dealt with him.’ Von Klemperer was president of the Natal Law Society from 1997 to 1999, co-chairperson of the Law Society of SA (LSSA) from 1999 to 2000 with the late Judge Jake Moloi, and a member of the JSC from 2003 to 2009. ‘His death has been a terrible shock,’ said his wife Margaret, former arts editor of The Witness who is being comforted by her daughter, Judy, and son, Christopher, who flew from the Western Cape to be with his mother.

The LSSA has also paid tribute to Von Klemperer. In a statement on Friday it said: ‘Julian played a crucial and prominent role in the discussions between 1996 and 1998 which brought the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers together with the four provincial law societies to embark on the transformation of the profession. He was one of the signatories, on behalf of the then Natal Law Society … to the LSSA’s constitution and was present at the launch of the LSSA in Parliament in March 1998. His commitment to transformation was also evidenced by his inclusion in the delegation representing the attorneys’ profession before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in October 1997,’ according LSSA co-chairpersons David Bekker and Walid Brown.