Notice is hereby given that the Council, having received and considered comments from interested persons in response to the Council’s notice published in the Government Gazette Number 42739 issued on the 04th of October 2019, has amended the rules made under the authority of sections 95(1), 95(3) and 109(2) by the deletion of rules 4.1…
Today is the last day of work in 2019 for most of our readers as most of you will be taking a long deserved holiday break. The TGLN team will also be taking a much deserved break and wishes to take this opportunity to wish all of you a safe and blessed festive season. We…
The Legal Practice Council would like to inform all legal practitioners that the Fidelity Fund Certificate application portal remains open. All difficulties encountered during the application process have been noted and are being resolved. Legal Practitioners are urged to finalize their application on or before 31 December 2019. Legal Practitioners can click on the link…
Advertise your company or firm on our website for 6 months for only R1500.00 (once-off fee). Send an email to info@first-lineconsulting.com for more info. Advertising space limited.
Please note that the Legal Practice Council’s Fidelity Fund Certificate application portal is now live. Legal practitioners can apply for their 2020 Fidelity Fund Certificates using the link below: https://lnkd.in/dB6JkYr
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) is cognisant that the Legal Practice Council (LPC) and the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund (LPFF) are the two regulators in South Africa that regulate the legal profession in the public interest. The LSSA appreciates, understands and respects the statutory functions enjoined to these two bodies in terms of the Legal…
Notice from the Legal Practice Council to all candidate attorneys: The August 2019 Attorneys Admission Examinations are now available. The September Notarial exams will be released on 15 November 2019 and the results for the September Conveyancing exams will be released on 22 November 2019. The Eastern Cape and Western Cape results will only be…
Three things affecting your computer, and the way you use it, that is. Carl Holiday, a legal practitioner, gives legal entrepreneurs a heads-up on three major changes that will affect computers in 2020. A must read for every lawyer running their own practice! We tend to think of our computers as permanent and always working,…
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) has noted with concern that it is now becoming a trend that some law firms are making a driver’s license and or ownership of a motor vehicle as one of the key requirements for graduates to be considered for practical vocational training (PVT) contracts.
Are you locked in a fixed term lease agreement and have no clue how to ‘get out of it’? The Good Lawyers Network provides below a simple concise explanation of the protection afforded to you by the law in such circumstances. What is a fixed term lease? A fixed term lease is a lease binding…
Third party risk management is currently an important topic for most corporate entities. Most corporate entities are carefully scrutinising their third party suppliers in order to minimise the risk exposure inherent in such relationships. This also applies to professional service providers like law firms, accounting firms, IT firms etc. As a result of the current…
Careers in the legal sector are evolving and to stay in the game lawyers need to “future-proof” what they do and how they do it, writes legal recruitment specialist Leonie Ellis. Conversations about winning clients, losing money, the path to partnerships or an in-house legal career, talent and a lack of talent swirled around me…
A Parable: Creating a Stream Adapted from an audio segment by Robert Kiyosaki, best selling author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” A Spring Runs Dry The story is told of a spring that ran dry in a small mountain village. The leaders gathered to determine how they would supply the village with clean water. There was…
The term ‘disruption’ or ‘disruptive innovation’ is the buzzword commonly used in business circles to describe how small companies with minimal resources are able to enter a market and displace an established system. Tony Robbins (www.tonyrobbins.com) describes it best when he says disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network…
‘’May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going and the insight to know when you have gone too far.’’ –famous Irish Blessing
About this webinar Statistics indicate that many small businesses do not survive for longer than three years. This includes professional service providers like law firms. There are many reasons that lead to a firm’s demise. This could include inadequate capitalisation, financial mismanagement or for one reason or the other, the inability to attract lucrative work…
Treat your client like you would want to be treated. Legal problems bring out the worst in people. To provide the best customer service you need a professional level of empathy. In simple terms, how would you like to be treated if you were in the client’s shoes. It could be said that lawyers lack…
Does client satisfaction lead to new business? Clio Legal Trends 2018 Report recommends that the following should be considered in measuring client satisfaction: Overall cost of service Ease of understanding case expectations ‘Bedside manner‘ of personality (rapport, approach) Knowledge of the legal system and process Ease of getting information on case status Ease of accessing…
Why are lawyers often overlooked by clients in commercial transactions? Most clients are opting to handle their business transactions themselves without involving lawyers. The Clio Legal Trends Report 2018 points out that lawyers are often overlooked as a solution and spend time speaking to clients that never hire them. The report states further that in…
Many years ago, a king placed a huge rock on a frequently used pathway and hid himself nearby to see who would remove it. He watched as some of his wealthiest merchants and advisors simply just walked around the huge rock. Instead, he heard many of them complain that the king was not keeping the…
“Difficulties come when you don’t pay attention to life’s whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you’ll get a scream” ~ Oprah Winfrey How often do you hear women lawyers talking about burnout? In WOLELA we hear it a LOT. We speak to women every week,…
‘’So often people use all their health to get wealth, only to find that they end up having to use all their wealth to get their health’’. ‘’Beloved you don’t have to run the race like the rest of the world only to become the number one rat, or focus all your energy to frantically…
”Consumer expectations are increasingly shaped by their experiences across other industries. In the interest of future success, lawyers must carefully consider how their firms will meet the needs of future clients” ”In learning more about how consumers approach their legal problems, we can better understand what shapes their decision to hire a lawyer.” ”As we…
”When the fear of losing money and failing becomes too painful inside, a fear we both have, he chooses to seek security and I choose to seek freedom.” ”It is not so much what we do but more how we generate income.” – extracted from the from the book Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant by Robert…
A tribal elder is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he says to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two dogs. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He…
‘’Every business needs a business minded lawyer’’. As an entrepreneur, if you had 1 legal question to ask what would it be? Every Friday, our business minded lawyers will be responding to questions received from entrepreneurs throughout the week. The response will be send privately to the entrepreneur that posed the question. Send your questions…
We believe that society needs good people. This includes lawyers. To be able to live up to this expectation, lawyers need to be equipped with all the information that can enable them to be good professionals and good people that are required by society. Information distributed or shared by lawyers with each other often includes developments in…
”But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Third party risk management is currently an important topic for most corporate entities. Most corporate entities are carefully scrutinising their third party suppliers in order to minimise the risk exposure inherent in such relationships. This also applies to professional service providers, including, law firms. As a result of the current economic climate corporate entities are…
Lawyers are known to over complicate things. Consulting in-house counsel in corporate entities is often perceived by senior management as unnecessary ‘red tape’ and only results in delays. The fees of external attorneys are often scrutinized and viewed as a cost that should or must have been avoided. This begs the question, is there really…
”A corporation can have the same idea, product, service or technology as its main competitor, but to win in the marketplace it must develop a new business model, customer experience, or service system that will put that new idea, product, or technology to use”. Peder Inge Furseth & Richard Cuthbertson (extracted from the article titled…
‘‘Whether you goal is to focus on your head, your heart or your wallet; remember, building and strengthening your network will help you improve your happiness, productivity, and true net worth. I encourage you to focus on your passions, surround yourself with people that share your values and don’t let your social capital lie dormant.…
‘’Ideas are the new currency. Look at TED Talks. An organization built around sharing ideas. One of the most valuable assets you have as a lawyer are your ideas. Ideas on how to win a case, how to improve your firm’s bottom line, how to help a client grow its business or how to get…
It only takes a few seconds for a person to form a certain impression about us. A job interview is one situation where first the first impression counts a lot. It is quite stressful for most people to prepare for an interview, so choosing what to wear to the interview is just as important as…
Don’t be overwhelmed by all the legal jargon, attend one of our practical, business focused legal compliance workshops to make sense of everything legal. Choose and book one of the sessions below to attend (book by sending an email to info@first-lineconsulting.com). Limited seats available (max 30 people per session). R500.00 per session Dates (choose one session) 7…
The Good Lawyers Network (TGLN) will be hosting a series of practical, business focused legal compliance workshops during September 2019 aimed at entrepreneurs . Choose and book one of the sessions below to attend (book by sending an email to info@first-lineconsulting.com). Limited seats available (max 30 people). Dates (choose 1 session) 7 September 2019 28 September 2019 Outline/workshop content…
The answer is yes. Our recent post titled, ‘‘Is Your Law Firm FICA Compliant? Does it make business sense to comply?” received an overwhelming response from lawyers in private practice. Most of the queries raised related to the obligation to appoint a Compliance Officer imposed by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (‘’the Fic Act’’) on…
Have you ever wondered what happens to your job application after submitting it for a position which you were qualified for? Human Resource (“HR”) Departments in most companies invest in systems which enable job applicants to submit their curriculum vitae (“cv’s”) online and assist in filtering suitable candidates for the advertised position. To be able…
The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (‘’the FIC Act’’) imposes compliance obligations on accountable institutions as part of measures for combatting money laundering and financing of terrorist and related activities. Attorneys or law firms are included on the list of 16 institutions in Schedule 1 of the FIC Act that are deemed to be accountable…
Melissa Raffoni in her Article Titled Three Keys to Effective Execution (published in Harvard Business Review, 26 February 2008) argues that the most creative, visionary strategic planning is useless if it is not translated to action. Implementation is the most crucial stage of the planning process. Without timeous and proper execution, an idea remains an…
Some of the synonyms that are used to describe the act of ‘planning’ include ‘to devise, think, imagine, forecast, or invent’. The planning process (1) identifies the goals or objectives to be achieved, (2) formulates strategies to achieve them, (3) arranges or creates the means required, and (4) implements, directs, and monitors all steps in their…
”Availability is not the most important factor in employment, ‘teachability’ is” (Benjamin Franklin). Alan Tofler once said ”the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. ‘I am always ready to learn, although I don’t always like being taught’ (Winston Churchill)…
Ursula Burns of Xerox offered an insightful lesson about careers and patience – something she heard from a previous boss, about the importance of ”getting to zero”. She explained it with the help of a piece of paper – she drew a line across the middle, and shaded an area below the left end of…
Phil Knight (Founder of Nike) ‘s definition of winning – extracted from his memoir Shoe Dog: “When you make something, when you improve something, when you deliver something, when you add some service or product to the lives of strangers and make them happier or healthier or safer or better and when you do it all crisply and…
I have decided to stop chasing after my dreams. After more than 16 years of chasing after ‘my dream’, at age 36, I have decided to call it quits, I am retiring from the rat race. I have come to realise that all things were created by God for God. All I have to do…
”The glory of justice and the majesty of law are created not just by the Constitution – nor by the courts – nor by the officers of the law – nor by the lawyers – but by the men and women who constitute our society – who are the protectors of the law as they…
”How we die or the age at which we die, it does not matter, what matters is the righteousness of God” Prophet TB Joshua
”As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15)
”Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” (Phillipians 4:8 NIV)
Start-up law firms fail as a result of various factors. In 2013, The Mail and Guardian‘s Thought Leader reported that 78 attorneys nationally were struck from the roll in 2012 (William Saunderson-Meyer ‘Just trust me I am a lawyer…’ www.thoughtleader.co.za, accessed 4-7-2016). Although these are unofficial statistics and it is not clear what offences were…
