Tshephisho Mokone Somo holds an LLB from the University of Pretoria, an LLM in Extractive Industry Law in Africa, and an MSc in International Mineral Resources Management from the University of Dundee in Scotland. She was admitted as an attorney in 2019 and joined VDH Attorneys Incorporated in 2025.

Her academic achievements include receiving the FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar Scholarship, winning the South African Law Reform Essay Writing Competition, and being recognised as a top achiever during her postgraduate studies.

Tshephisho’s professional experience spans private practice, the public sector, legal research and academia. Before joining VDH, much of her post-articles experience was academically focused. She served as Senior Legal Researcher to then Deputy Chief Justice Maya and Acting Justice Unterhalter at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, where she conducted research on complex legal questions, prepared legal opinions and seminar notes, and acted as lead researcher on matters before the Court. She has also worked as a legal researcher and academic associate at the University of Pretoria and has experience in corporate-commercial and advisory roles in South Africa and internationally.

At VDH, Tshephisho’s practice focuses on debt review litigation, including court appearances and the drafting of legal documents. She is based in Pretoria and currently appears predominantly in Gauteng courts, with particular experience in the Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court.

Her strong research background has translated naturally into an interest in some of the more difficult questions arising from the practical application of debt review law. She is particularly interested in the rationale and consequences of excluding a credit agreement from the debt review process where a consumer has nevertheless been found to be over-indebted, and the extent to which such outcomes may undermine the rehabilitative purpose of debt review.

Tshephisho speaks Sepedi, English and Afrikaans. She has also studied Korean and is currently learning Mandarin.

Outside of practice, she is an enthusiastic reader and writer and has written two novels under a pen name. She also enjoys learning languages, analysing anime and, by her own account, composing songs about her dog.