Recently got contacted by an LLB student who told me that he wants to be an attorney but didn’t know how to go about it.
Many law students drift through university and are suprised when the degree comes to its end and all the other students seem to be landing jobs and they aren’t. The difference between the students that get snapped up and those that get left behind often comes down to preparation. This article teaches aspiring attorneys the basic steps to becoming an attorney. Unless you know the career path you are not even in the race.
1. LLB
Once you have decided that law is for you then you need to enroll for an LLB degree which takes 4 to 5 years. If you aspire to work at one of the prestigious law firms, you will need to apply yourself from day 1 because marks count in the competitive world of law.(definitely not the only factor, but at least try get decent marks)
2. Vacation Work
During your second last year of your LLB you should apply to law firms for vacation jobs. These jobs usually last for a week or two during the July or December holiday. Most of the top firms offer vacation work (and they pay very well for just a week, you can even afford to get yourself a drivers license) and it is a great opportunity to experience a professional law environment and to network with legal professionals. It also looks good on your CV and the contacts you make may well help you secure articles later on. For a start, simply look for law firms on the internet that have an image of a graduation hat, those firms are graduate friendly which means that they offer vacation work and usually large amount of positions for candidate attorneys.
3. Practical Vocational Training (Articles of clerkship)
In order to be admitted as an attorney you have to complete two years of law articles in which you work in a law firm as a "candidate legal practitioner" under the guidance of an attorney.
4. CV and Cover Letter
Your CV and cover letter will be doing your talking for you for the duration of your search for vacation work and articles so it is worth putting some time into it. A good CV cannot compensate for a bad academic record, but a good academic record cannot compensate for a poorly worded and badly presented CV. Keep it professional and to the point. Avoid extravagant language and do not try sound overly academic. If English is not your first language then get someone to check it for you.
5. Interview Skills
Interviews need not be as difficult as they are made out to be and few simple guidelines can take you a long way:
Dress well. Not too flashy but wear a clean well fitted suit.
Show the firm that you are responsible. Emphasize your position as the head of the debating/chess/library club. It can be in your favour to come across as conservative because this indicates that you are focused and career orientated. Law firms like this.
Most importantly, be ambitious. A candidate who seems eager to start working and adding value to the firm is hard to resist. Tell them why you want to be a lawyer; money😂, prestige, your love for the law. Better to seem greedy and realistic than meek or idealistic.
6. What if you do not find articles
Do not despair, there are a number of option open to you. Keep regular tabs on networks like LinkedIn in which law firms list their vacancies for law articles. Review your CV and interview techniques and continue to apply to as many firms as you need to. If you have a strong academic record I also suggest sending your CV to recruitment agencies like Dante personnel. You might also consider applying for articles at the public prosecutor or at a legal clinic as well as legal aid. Although not considered as prestigious as working for a law firm, the experience might be better, and the environment could prove more interesting and enjoyable. You also have the option of beginning your practical legal training and this will buy you more time and keep you busy while you are searching for law articles. Another option is to join the Bar and become an advocate. Or applying for a job at a bank, insurance company or some other institution that recruits junior legal consultants. There is nothing to stop you from applying for articles while working at another job. Finally, you can continue to study thereby giving yourself more career options. Apart from doing an honors subject in a legal field of your choice, course such as compliance tend to work well with LLB degrees. Having an additional degree or diploma will not only make you more attractive to law firms, but it will give you work options outside of the traditional attorney career path.
7. Doing your time
When you start your articles it is important that your contract gets registered with the relevant law society (now the Legal Practice Counsel) within 2 months of starting articles. Otherwise you are not a registered candidate attorney and your time spent working will not be recognized by the court when you apply to be admitted as an attorney. DO NOT RELY ON YOUR PRINCIPAL to register your articles in time even though it is his or her duty. Phone the law society of the province you work in, find out exactly what needs to be done to register your articles (generally the process involves sending your employment contract to the law society together with a registration fee and a cover letter) and do it as early as possible. The most important relationship you will have in the next two years, is the one between you and your principal, so work at it. Open good channels of communication and learn to set boundaries so that you do not get taken advantage of. Keep in touch with your friends from law school who are doing articles, you will need each other for advice and moral support. And finally, be prepared to work really hard.
8. Practical Legal Training (PLT)
PLT is a course in practical legal training that every prospective attorney has to complete before they can be admitted as an attorney. The course aims to teach you vital practical legal skills and to prepare you for board exams. Some of the big firms provide an "in-house" PLT course, but for everyone else you have to contact your relevant law society which will provide you with information about where and when the course can be completed. You have a choice whether to do the long course which is 5 months full time or the condensed course which is approximately 5 weeks full time or 5 months part time (2 evening per week or 1 full day per week). If you do the full time 5 month course you are entitled to reduce your articles by 1 year. This option is becoming increasingly popular but be advised that many law firms are reluctant to employ a candidate attorney for only 1 year. Nevertheless it is an option worth considering if the thought of 2 years of articles gives you cold shivers. The course costs approximately R14 000 but almost all of the big firms pay for this as do some of the middle sized firms.
9. Board Exams
After your PLT course it is time to face your board exams. Board exams can be written every February and August. There are 4 board exams and you can choose which ones you want to write and when. For example, you might choose to write 2 board exams in August of you first year of articles and the next two in February of your second year. Some people prefer to write all 4 at once.
They are as follows: P4.Bookkeeping (it is more like FAC 1503, your background should be useful); P1. Court procedure (Same as Civil procedure and Criminal procedure); P2.Estates (just deals with how a person’s estate is administered) and P3.Ethics (basically everything law related😂). It is entirely up to you and there is no one way that I recommend over any other. People who do not have a background in accounts tend to find the bookkeeping and the wills and estates exams especially challenging, but thankfully we did FAC 1503 so it’s easy peezy. There are independent lecturers who offer extra lessons (such as Van Eck) in these subjects and if the teacher is reputable then I recommend that you sign up.
10. Get admitted
Once you have completed articles and passed all your board exams you are entitled to apply to court to get admitted as an attorney. This process requires you to launch a actual high court application which means that a notice of motion together with an affidavit has to be issued in court, and an advocate has to be briefed to move the application on the given date. Your law firm should take care of this whole procedure for you but it is recommended that you play an active role in ensuring that your principal completes this process correctly and timeously.
YOU are good enough to work anywhere you want. Your LLB is as good
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