Legal Practice Act, 2014 (Act No. 28 of 2014)RegulationsRegulations under Section 109(1)(a)6. Practical vocational training requirements that candidate attorneys must comply with before they can be admitted by the court as legal practitioners |
| (1) | Any person intending to be admitted and enrolled as an attorney must, after that person has satisfied all the requirements for a degree referred to in sections 26(1)(a) or (b) of the Act serve under a practical vocational training contract with a person referred to in subregulation (5)— |
| (a) | for an uninterrupted period of 24 months, and — |
| (i) | during the service under a practical vocational training contract; or |
| (ii) | within a period of no longer than 12 months after the termination of the practical vocational training contract, must complete a programme of structured course work of not less than 150 notional hours: Provided that if a candidate attorney fails to complete the programme of structured course work within a period of 36 months after the date of registration of a practical vocational training contract, he or she will be required to repeat the course work programme; or |
| (b) | for an uninterrupted period of 12 months if, prior to the registration of a practical vocational training contract, he or she has completed a programme of structured course work, comprising compulsory modules, of not less than 400 notional hours duration in the aggregate over a period of no longer than six months. |
| (2) | A person referred to in subregulation (1)(a) who has entered into a practical vocational training contract for a period of 24 months may, after having served a period of 12 months under that contract, apply for admission and enrolment as an attorney if he or she has, during the course of that period of 12 months but outside of his or her normal working hours in terms of that contract, completed a programme of structured course work, comprising compulsory modules, of not less than 400 notional hours duration in the aggregate. |
| (3) | Attendance at any training course presented at a Practical Legal Training School of the Law Society of South Africa for purposes of the Attorneys Act, for which the candidate attorney registered before the date referred to in section 120(4) of the Act and in respect of which the required attendance was completed within a period of 12 months after that date is regarded for purposes of these regulations as compliance with the requirements of course work referred to in subregulation (1)(a) and (b). |
| (4) | Subject to the provisions of the Act, any period of service before a candidate attorney has satisfied the requirements of the degrees referred to in 26(1)(a) or (b) of the Act is not regarded as good or sufficient service in terms of a practical vocational training contract. |
| (5) | A candidate attorney may be engaged or retained under a practical vocational training contract by an attorney — |
| (a) | practising for his or her own account; |
| (b) | practising as a partner in a firm of attorneys; |
| (c) | practising as a member of a juristic entity; |
| (d) | practising as state attorney; |
| (e) | who has practised as a professional assistant in a firm of attorneys for a period of five years within the preceding six years; or |
| (f) | in the full time employ of, or who is a member of — |
| (i) | Legal Aid South Africa, established in terms of the Legal Aid South Africa Act, 2014 (Act No. 39 of 2014); or |
| (ii) | a legal aid institution which has been approved by the Council for the purpose of engaging candidate attorneys and who is responsible for supervising the training of candidate attorneys so engaged; or |
| (iii) | any other institution approved by the Council for the purpose of engaging candidate attorneys and who is responsible for supervising the training of candidate attorneys so engaged. |
| (6) | An attorney engaging a candidate attorney – |
| (a) | as contemplated in subregulation (5)(a) to (d) must have practised as an attorney for a period of not less than three years, or for periods of not less than three years in the aggregate, during the preceding four years; and |
| (b) | as contemplated in subregulation (f) must have practised as an attorney for a period of not less than three years, or for periods of not less than three years in the aggregate during the preceding four years prior to being engaged by Legal Aid South Africa or the institution concerned. |
| (7) | Service by a candidate attorney to any attorney while that attorney is not practising or has not practised as provided for in subregulation (5) is not deemed to be service under a practical vocational training contract for purposes of these regulations. |
| (8) | An attorney referred to in subregulation (5)(a) to (e) may, at no time, have more than three candidate attorneys and an attorney referred to in subregulation (5)(f) may, at no time, have more than six candidate attorneys in the aggregate engaged or retained in terms of a practical vocational training contract. |
| (9) | When an attorney dies or retires from practice or has been struck off the Roll, any of his or her surviving or remaining partners, any member of the commercial juristic entity of which he or she was a member, or any other attorney employed full time at Legal Aid South Africa or the institution concerned may take cession of the practical vocational training contract of the candidate attorney, despite the fact that the cessionary may then have more than three or six, as the case may be, candidate attorneys, under contract. |
| (10) | The programme of structured course work referred to in subregulation (1)(a) and (b) must be standardized and uniform throughout the Republic and comprise the following modules: |
| (a) | constitutional practice; |
| (b) | professional legal ethics; |
| (c) | personal injury claims; |
| (d) | high court practice; |
| (e) | magistrate’s court practice; |
| (f) | criminal court practice; |
| (g) | labour dispute resolution; |
| (h) | alternative dispute resolution |
| (i) | attorneys’ bookkeeping; |
| (j) | wills and estates; |
| (k) | matrimonial law; |
| (l) | legal costs; |
| (m) | drafting of contracts; |
| (n) | information and communication technology for practice, and associated aspects of cyber law; and |
| (o) | introduction to practice management. |
| (11) | The training provided in terms of this regulation must be standardized by the Council in terms of norms and standards. |