Stephan van der Merwe joined the Law Clinic, University of Stellenbosch as a practising attorney in 2001, after serving his articles of clerkship in private practice. Earlier he graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a BCom LLB and during 2002 he obtained an Advanced Certificate in Children’s Rights. In 2005, he obtained an LLM (cum laude) and during 2007 he qualified as a notary public and attorney with right of appearance in the High Court. In 2017, he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (cum laude). In 2022, Dr Van der Merwe obtained his doctorate in law (LLD). The title of his dissertation is “Developing a Procedural Framework for Advanced Debtor Protection: The Case of Emolument Attachment Orders”, in which he makes motivated recommendations aimed at advancing debtor protection.

Dr Van der Merwe is deeply involved with community service in his capacity as the senior supervising attorney at the Law Clinic. During the early 2000s, his work was instrumental in exposing the interest fraud, which eventually led to the demise of Saambou Bank. He also has extensive experience representing debtors in rescission of judgment and emoluments attachment order cases and his practice and research in this regard proved valuable in framing the applicant’s case in the Constitutional Court matter of University of Stellenbosch Legal Aid Clinic & others v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services & Others [2016] ZACC 32.

Dr Van der Merwe has been the Clinic’s principal attorney on various other impact litigation matters related to his field of practice, including the 2019 in duplum case (University of Stellenbosch Law Clinic & 11 Others v The National Credit Regulator & 48 Others) and the University of Stellenbosch Law Clinic & 8 Others v Lifestyle Direct Group International (Pty) Ltd & 18 Others class action filed during 2019. He also advises and presents training on debt-related matters, and specifically emoluments attachment orders, to human resource industries on a national level.

Dr Van der Merwe is a former secretary and treasurer of the South African University Law Clinic Association (SAULCA) and is affiliated to various international organisations related to his fields of research and practice, including being a member of the International Association of Legal Ethics and a Fellow of the National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism (NIFTEP), based at Georgia State University, USA. He has published and presented widely in the legal and legal education fields. In 2019, he was awarded the Stellenbosch University Institutional Teaching Excellence Award in the category ‘Scholarly Teacher’. The award is based on experience and leadership in the scholarship of teaching and learning. In 2025, Dr Van der Merwe was awarded the Stellenbosch University Social Impact Award in the Individual Award Category.