NWU

The North-West University, Potchefstroom Law Clinic is committed to legal education and access to justice. In terms of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 a candidate attorney needs to complete practical vocational training in order to be admitted as a legal practitioner. This position is essential to provide legal services to the community and to provide LLB graduates the opportunity to gain access to the legal profession whilst doing community service. The position is funded through external funding. The appointment is made for a fixed-term period of 24 months. The appointment is made for our satellite office situated in Mbombela (Mpumalanga).

• Representing clients of the Mpumalanga Access to Justice Cluster of the Potchefstroom Law Clinic in any matter assigned to you;
• Plan and schedule day to day tasks and diarise all active client files;
• Drafting letters, documents and pleadings at the request of the supervisor;
• Appear in courts and tribunals where applicable;
• Organise meetings and consultations;
• Arrange trial dates;
• Receive and attend to client files;
• Make copies and bind documents where required;
• Take minutes at meetings and consultations and place on client file;
• Send and receive correspondence (fax, e-mail, etc.), acknowledge receipt and file on relevant client file;
• Negotiate on behalf of clients;
• Mediate matters assigned to you;
• Furnish legal advice and opinions to clients in matters entrusted to you;
• Stay abreast of and research the law and case law of relevance to matters entrusted to you;
• Avoid prescription and default judgements;
• Make follow-up on urgent matters and respond to enquiries timeously;
• Draw files on the request of the supervisor;
• Keep register of new files, time utilisation and telephone utilisation;
• Manage telephone calls and convey messages to colleagues;
• Maintain a record of work performance by completing monthly time sheets;Maintain a file register of all files handed to you.
• Comply with all office instructions, prescripts and directives from supervisors and line managers;
• Attend all required training; and
• Adhere to ethical principles and professional standards expected from a candidate attorney in the employ of the North-West University, Potchefstroom Law Clinic.

• Cooperate with management, OHS officials and colleagues to help everyone meet their legal requirements, whilst upholding and maintaining general occupational health and safety standards and practices.

• LLB

• Legal language skills
• Basic research skills
• Computer literacy in MS Word and Office, as well as email, internet and electronic retrieval of legal sources
• Good communication skills (verbal and written)
• Demonstration of language proficiency in order to function optimally in the various multilingual environments of the NWU

• Completion of B.A / B.Com with area of specialisation in law
• Completion of LLM (Masters in Law)
• Completion of the 6 months Practical Legal Training of the Law Society of South Africa / Legal Education and Development
• Community engagement