By Kim Hawkey – Editor
The glamorous picture of the attorney in his designer suit, sleek car and plush offices created by society’s perception of lawyers and exaggerated by overseas and local television programmes is, as many attorneys are aware, quite different from the reality of practising law, especially of late.
In addition, despite what many have preached, hard work and putting in long hours may no longer be enough to make it as a successful attorney.
While barriers to entry into the profession have opened up to an extent, as evidenced by the increasing number of prospective attorneys graduating from our tertiary institutions each year, simply being accepted into the profession does not secure long-term survival in it.
The reality is that legal work has become scarcer, especially for many in small and medium-sized law firms, which make up the majority of attorneys’ firms in South Africa.
As the number of attorneys practising in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, grows, an increasing amount of legal work is being lost as a result of the mushrooming number of specialist tribunals, the increase in in-house legal advisers, a move towards mediation, together with several other factors, all of which have a negative impact on attorneys’ access to work.
While there can be no doubt that specialist tribunals, such as the National Consumer Tribunal, the Companies Tribunal and the Competition Tribunal, and dispute resolution bodies like the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, achieve much good, there needs to be an acknowledgement among attorneys that some of their legal work has been taken away from them by the creation of such bodies, with nothing provided in its place.
The same goes for non-profit legal organisations that provide legal services for free or at a minimal cost, and even Legal Aid South Africa, which now takes on civil matters. These organisations play an important role in society, but, again, inadvertently affect access to legal work by smaller practices in particular. In some small towns, attorneys’ firms have closed their doors and practitioners have joined the local Justice Centre.
Large corporations, government departments, municipalities and parastatals are increasingly favouring hiring in-house lawyers or appointing a specific few firms, which are often large ones that are able to handle the quantity of matters they deal with and who also have the necessary high level of indemnity insurance.
The loss of motor vehicle accident (MVA) work, the gradual drop in conveyancing transactions following the end of the property boom, as well as the growing number of debt collection agencies have all exacerbated the problem.
Also on the cards are mandatory court-based mediation and an increasing interest in legal process outsourcing, which, although it can benefit some firms, at the same time risks taking work away from attorneys.
There not only needs to be an acknowledgement that the average attorney has lost out on some legal work, but there also needs to be an awareness among those wishing to enter the profession that a law degree does not guarantee a steady stream of work and a ticket to a life of comfort.
The acknowledgement among practitioners of the difficult working environment many attorneys are currently working in will give them reason to consider alternative ways to use their existing legal skills to earn a living, whether this means exploring new areas of practice, investigating legal process outsourcing opportunities or expanding their skills and/or education (eg to include business or mediation skills).
The time may be ripe for attorneys to re-examine the type of work they are currently doing and explore what they can do differently that will set them apart, especially the many who entered the attorneys’ profession not for money or glamour, but to play a role in achieving justice for others.
Tell us if you have any suggestions for how attorneys, especially those in small and medium-sized firms, can survive in these tough times and what support they should be afforded. Send an e-mail to Derebus@derebus.org.za
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2012 (March) DR 3.