By Barbara Whittle

With the imminent implementation of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, expected to come into operation on 31 October, the four statutory provincial law societies held their last annual general meetings as regulatory bodies for attorneys in their jurisdictions during September and October.

On 1 November the new Legal Practice Council (LPC) will take over the regulation of all legal practitioners, namely, attorneys and advocates, with the dates for election of Provincial Councils to be announced.

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) is not a statutory body, but a voluntary association of its six constituent members, the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), the Cape Law Society, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society, the Law Society of the Free State, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL).

With four of its constituent members (the four law societies) falling away on 31 October, the LSSA is in the process of changing its constitution to make provision for council members who are not affiliated to the BLA or NADEL to replace those nominated by law societies.

The amendments, once approved, will allow the LSSA to continue to exist as a representative body for attorneys. Its constitution and functions are being amended to make provision for this, with full implementation over the next three years.

Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, Law Society of South Africa, barbara@lssa.org.za

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2018 (Nov) DR 17.