Senior Counsel Steven Budlender SC has returned to the Johannesburg Bar following a three-year stint in-house, joining Chambers ’56.
Budlender announced his return on 12 August 2026, saying that he had “rejoined the Johannesburg Bar” and become a member of Chambers ’56, a group named after the historic 1956 Women’s March. The chambers is led by an all-women Executive Committee and by Nasreen Rajab-Budlender SC.
The move marks Budlender’s return to private legal practice after spending the past three years in the corporate sector. In 2023, he left the Bar to take up the position of Group General Counsel at MultiChoice, later continuing in the role following Canal+’s involvement with the company.
Earlier this year, Budlender announced that he was leaving MultiChoice/Canal+ after two and a half years as Group General Counsel. Reflecting on his time in-house, he said the role had broadened his strategic and commercial perspective, particularly because it required him to consider the wider landscape of challenges and opportunities facing a company and its industry, rather than the narrower focus that often accompanies legal practice at the Bar.
One of the highlights of his corporate career was his involvement in the Canal+/MultiChoice merger, as well as a number of other transactions.
His return also brings significant corporate experience back into his practice. Budlender spent much of his career at the Bar working on complex public law, constitutional and commercial matters, appearing in some of South Africa’s highest courts. His practice has included work involving constitutional rights, administrative law and significant public-interest litigation.
The Johannesburg Bar’s current member directory lists Budlender as a Senior Counsel, with his admission to the Johannesburg Bar dating back to 2008 and his appointment as Senior Counsel in 2019.
For Chambers ’56, the move adds another experienced Senior Counsel to a group that has positioned itself around excellence in advocacy and the transformation of the legal profession.
Budlender said he had got to know the junior members of Chambers ’56 over the past year and described them as impressive young advocates committed to excellence in their practice and to transforming the profession.
His return means that one of South Africa’s prominent advocates is once again practising at the Bar.
