You finally made it, you completed your degree and passed the interview. Now your taking the first steps on the path to become an attorney at your new firm.  Your excitement made you wake up earlier, you get dressed, and your on your way to your office. On the way, you think how awesome it is that you can start your career today. You think of all the cases your going to have and how your going to “Harvey Specter the Crap” out of each case. You see yourself on the fast track to become a director, and that’s just your goals for today.  Reality And then reality hits you like a bug hitti ..read more

We were recently given the HUGE honour to be listed among the Top 25 South African Law blogs. A huge thank you to Feed Spot in recognizing our blog. We hope that our readers will continue to support us. The post Top 25 South African Law blog appeared first on Candidate 26 ..read more

Lawyers are traditionally known to wear tailored suits to look professional for their daily responsibilities. However, recent trends in fashion have seen some lawyers working in their offices wearing casual attire. If you’re unsure what to wear to the firm or you’re looking for a change of appearance, here’s a brief overview of dress codes for lawyers. Dress Code for Male Lawyers Lawyers spend a significant amount of time in office with occasional appearances in court and other public locations (i.e. interviews with clients, research at a library, etc.). There are two dress codes for lawyers ..read more

Your first appearance in front of the court is what you’ve been working too for that past few weeks.  I was very excited and couldn’t wait for the day to finally appear in front of the Magistrate for the first time.  The more I thought about it the more nervous I got. I didn’t know what to expect and really didn’t know what to say, or what to wear.  Google didn’t give me the answers I was looking for and as a result I had to ask other CA’s and attorneys what its like, what to do, and how to address the court. From my research I knew a little bit of what to expect, but I was stil ..read more

Most CA’s are of the view that either their salary is to small or that it is more a wage than a salary.  In some sense they are correct.  I believe it is more of an incentive than anything else.  I have been struggling a while to get to grips with why the salaries of most CA’s are so small.  This lead me to do a massive amount of research and I learned a few valuable lessons that I want to share with you today. What to expect The average salary that about most CA’s earn, can be anything between R4 000 – R6 000 per month.  There are roughly 5% that earn between R6 000 ..read more

At the start of every Law graduate’s career we all consider the same thing at least once, and that is if we should attend the Practical Legal Training (PLT) course.  This course is more commonly referred to as Law School.  Although the name changed, the course’s aim stayed mostly the same.  The aim is to prepare CA’s for the admission exams.  The biggest question everyone’s asks is if they should attend the course or not?  There is no simple answer to this, as it depends on various things that can influence your decision.  So to answer the question we have to look ..read more

The LPC has recently announced the latest dates for the admission exams.  The outbreak of Covid-19 and the many restrictions that Government has implemented, played a major part in moving the exams. When I asked other Candidates how the studying was going, I always got the same answer.  I haven’t started yet. The sad reality is that most CA’s have not started any preparation for the exams.  I understood their reasoning behind not starting, I was in the same boat.  I reckoned why study for a exam if I don’t know when it will take place? For a long time I also used this excus ..read more

You’ve completed your studies, got your degree, sent your CV everywhere, and now your not getting invited for an interview?  You ask yourself what the problem is but never find the answer.  That is the reality for most students just getting out of university.  South Africa’s unemployment rate is 30.1% for the first quarter of 2020.  It is unknown to what extent these statistics will grow because of COVID 19, but it expected that these numbers will drastically rise.  The reasons are simple, some companies closed their doors, some simply say they can do the same amount o ..read more

Registering your PVT contract can be a nightmare for some.  I have heard of CA’s that submitted their contracts 2 or 3 times before the LPC finally approved and registered it.  This can be a very frustrating situation.  It takes about 2 – 4 weeks from submitting the documents before you receive confirmation that its been registered or that there are issues.  Let’s Put it in perspective You start working on 15 January and submit your documents on the 30th, you only get feedback at around 28 February.  Now you get the feedback and the LPC has some issue with your applica ..read more