Mrs. Esmé Desiré du Plessis, a national of South Africa, was admitted as an attorney in 1965, having qualified also as a patent agent - the first woman to do so in South Africa. For several years she practised as a partner in the Pretoria firm of Adams & Adams, well-known patent, trade marks and general attorneys.
In 1979, she joined the Law Faculty of the University of South Africa and was promoted to associate professor in the Department of Mercantile Law. In 1990, she returned to private practice and again joined Adams & Adams as a partner. She still holds a professorship extraordinary in the Law Faculty of Unisa.
Mrs. du Plessis has served on many professional and educational bodies, such as Councillor and former President of the Transvaal Law Society - the first woman in South Africa to serve as such, one of the first two Co-Chairs of the unified Law Society of South Africa, former President of the South African Group of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), and former Chairperson of the Statutory Patent Examination Board.
She is currently a member of the following organizations: Statutory Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property - Vice Chairperson, Council of the University of Pretoria - Vice Chairperson, Editorial Committee of De Rebus, the attorneys' magazine, SA Institute of Intellectual Property Law - fellow, LLSA Standing Committee on IP - Chairperson, International Programme Committee, AIPPI - member. She has also lectured as several WIPO Training Seminars.
Mrs. du Plessis obtained the BSc and LLB degrees at the University of Pretoria. Several academic prizes were awarded to her during her studies, including the Grotius medal (the Bar Prize) for the best law student. During this period she served on the Students' Representative Council of the University of Pretoria and was awarded Dux honours.