Adeline Vance KC
Biography
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Adeline Vance is a competition and regulatory advocate practising at the Johannesburg Bar, with twenty years of experience in complex regulatory litigation and a parallel academic profile in competition policy.
Her practice focuses on competition law proceedings before the Competition Commission, the Competition Tribunal and the Competition Appeal Court, sectoral regulatory disputes, and judicial review of regulatory decisions across the energy, telecommunications and financial sectors.
Adeline took silk in 2020. She has appeared as lead counsel in several of the most significant merger and abuse of dominance matters of the past decade, and is an adjunct member of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she convenes the LLM module on Competition Law.
She publishes regularly in academic and professional journals on questions of competition policy, regulatory institutional design and the relationship between competition and industrial policy.
KEY STRENGTHS
Competition Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court proceedings
Merger control and conditional approvals
Abuse of dominance and prohibited practice investigations
Sectoral regulatory disputes (energy, telecommunications, financial services)
Public procurement and rationality review
Regulatory policy and institutional design
Representative Matters
- 01
Conditional merger approval — energy sector consolidation
Led counsel for the merging parties in a Competition Tribunal proceeding concerning a major consolidation in the energy sector. The matter resulted in a conditional approval with structural conditions of national significance.
- 02
Abuse of dominance investigation — telecommunications
Defended a sectoral incumbent in a Competition Commission investigation into alleged exclusionary conduct in the supply of fixed-line services.
- 03
Cartel prosecution — construction sector
Acted for a respondent in cartel prosecution proceedings arising from a Commission settlement process, on questions of the scope of admissions and the calculation of administrative penalties.
- 04
Sectoral regulator licensing review
Reviewed a decision by a sectoral regulator concerning the issue of operating licences, focusing on rationality, procedural fairness and statutory mandate.
- 05
Public procurement review — provincial health tender
Acted for an unsuccessful bidder in a review of a provincial health tender, on grounds of irrationality and breach of the procurement legislation.
- 06
Consumer protection class action
Junior counsel in a class action under the Consumer Protection Act concerning alleged unfair contract terms in a regulated sector.
Professional History
2020 — Present
Senior Counsel
Bandahill Chambers
- Took silk in 2020 - Led counsel in several of the most significant merger and abuse of dominance matters of the past decade - Appointed to the panel of preferred counsel for the Competition Commission in selected matters - Convenes the LLM module on Competition Law at the University of the Witwatersrand
2008 — 2020
Member of the Johannesburg Bar
Bandahill Chambers
- Built a junior practice with emphasis on competition and regulatory work - Acted as junior counsel in landmark Competition Tribunal proceedings - Authored academic and professional articles on competition policy
2007 — 2007
Visiting Researcher
Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia
- Conducted research on the design of national competition authorities in emerging economies - Contributed to the Centre's working paper series
2005 — 2005
Candidate Attorney
Hofmeyr & Strauss Inc.
- Articled in the competition and regulatory department - Worked on early merger notifications under the Competition Act