Before that, between November 1998 and June 2013, he served in the Gauteng High Court, where he gained a reputation for conservative and pro-capitalist jurisprudence.
[2] However, after completing his LLB, he left banking for legal practice, gaining admission as an advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in 1980.
[1] He was initially admitted to the Cape Bar, but he left in 1983 to work in Gaborone, Botswana, where he was head of litigation at the firm of Damant Bostock & Magang Attorneys.
[3][4][5] In general, Willis was viewed as a conservative judge[6][7] and even as a "'maverick' pro-capitalist",[8] with Richard Calland describing him as "seeing the Constitution through the lens of private property".
[15][16] In April 2013, the Judicial Service Commission recommended that Willis and Halima Saldulker should be appointed to two vacancies at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Because Willis's interview had been short and "convivial",[8][17] while opposing contender Clive Plasket was subjected to rigorous questioning, the announcement attracted a significant amount of public debate.