Given the complexity and very technical nature of tax, a rare area of law that changes every year, it’s vital to not only stay abreast of domestic and international developments but also to provide clients with pragmatic, solutions-driven advice, says Johanne Hague.
“In this day and age where tech-driven solutions are widely available, it’s not enough to provide legal advice to sophisticated clients capable of looking up the law themselves,” says Johanne, founder of Prism Chambers in Mauritius, and a former magic circle lawyer. “Clients rely on us for our strategic input on their legal issues, to provide commercial solutions, and for our systems to be holistic, particularly where there’s a cross-border element.”
Prism Chambers' new partnership with CMS becomes even more valuable in the cross-border space, as Prism and CMS clients both benefit from the combined expertise. “Particularly regarding the African continent, clients now want a legal advisor who’s able to partner and accompany them from a holistic perspective, not just offer ad hoc advice,” Hague explained.
Having grown up in Mauritius, Johanne returned to the island nation after more than a decade in London, where she rose to the position of vice-president in the Tax group at JP Morgan Chase Bank NA, advising on the EMEA region.
She established Prism Chambers in 2019 to address “a huge need in the market for legal specialism in tax”, because traditionally in Mauritius and many other African nations, tax advisors had accounting rather than legal backgrounds. Demand soon grew for their legal services in other areas of business law, and Prism naturally evolved to become a boutique business law firm.
“We grew organically, guided by the needs of our clients, almost all of whom have cross-border activities because of Mauritius’s role as an investment platform into Africa or Asia,” Johanne shared. “Associating with a reputable, market-leading global legal organisation like CMS, with a focused Africa strategy was an inevitable and natural next step in our growth.”
A prosperous country with a skilled bilingual (Anglophone and Francophone) workforce, Mauritius has modern legal and regulatory frameworks, political stability, and a strong history in outsourcing and financial services.
“We are the intersection between East and West, and have a favourable network of investment protection treaties which is very important when talking about investing into Africa because the risk climate can be tricky,” added Johanne. “Those treaties give investors huge comfort. Our highest court of appeal in certain areas is also the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which provides investors with an added layer of comfort that their ultimate recourse lies in London should disputes arise.”
Johanne is proud of her firm’s high-level, client and solutions-focused expertise as well as the agility of her firm which will now be known as “Prism Chambers - in association with CMS”.
She explained that, over the years, Prism has built an incredible platform on social media, including a podcast series that shares high quality conversations across many legal and non-legal topics with inspiring people. “I have no doubt that, with our association with CMS, we’ll be able to take our platform and everything else we’ve been trying to do to the next level,” Johanne concluded.
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