Advice for law graduates on how to thrive

There is a huge demand — but a short supply — of articles of clerkship (the compulsory practical training of one or two years that law graduates must do to qualify as attorneys).

My company gets two or three applications a day and I am sure the bigger firms get many more. Many graduates do not find articles and become very disillusioned.

At this time of the year, finalyear law students and recent graduates have probably sent out applications for a clerkship. They may have already received a few rejection letters and are worried about their future. I see them. I have been there. They should take heart.

In May, I marked the fact that I have been practising as an attorney for 21 years. I am a partner in a specialised commercial law firm that I co-founded 14 years ago.

I applied for articles to more than 30 law firms when I started out, and every one of them had a reason not to hire me. I kept all the letters I had received rejecting my application or giving reasons why I could not get a position. I took them out again this week as I contemplated more than two decades of legal practice.

I started applying for articles in early 1995. In hindsight, the odds of getting articles were against me. I was from a small town in Swaziland; I studied two degrees at the University of Durban-Westville — an institution which for many biased reasons was regarded as inferior; my exam marks were mediocre; and neither my family nor I knew anyone in the legal services sector in SA.

I had still not found articles by March 1996 and was disheartened. I decided to walk through the streets of Durban and submit CVs to any law firm I came across (all the glamorous ones had turned me down).

A tiny firm, Dehal Incorporated, called me in for an interview. I remember being asked whether I preferred to be a “chamber” lawyer or a court lawyer. I said “a bit of both” because I did not know what the question meant.

I was offered a position at R800 a month, a fifth of what the medium-sized law firms were paying at the time.

Now, more than 20 years later, I have worked at some of the best law firms locally and internationally. I have travelled. I have experienced the excitement and challenges of private practice and I have “paid it forward” by training 15 candidate attorneys, all of whom are excelling in their chosen paths.

I could write a book about practising law but all I am offering now are a few tips for young people at the start of their careers.

You will not always get into your preferred law firm. That does not mean that there are other firms that will not offer training and experience that is just as good or even better.

Sanushka Chetty, now a director at ENS is, like me, a member of the “walk the streets of the city club”.

She walked into my firm more than nine years ago, befriended the receptionist and was given a training contract.

If you plan to stay in practice (and even if you don’t) there is one nonnegotiable: do a business or entrepreneurial course. As much as you are a lawyer, you are also a business person. A course will help reduce the number of scars you get, compared with some of us who have had to learn tough business lessons along the way.

Do not take short cuts. You will encounter people who will try to corrupt you and get you involved in all sorts of schemes. These will only lead to trouble.

You will have to work hard. One of my favourite sayings is, “I’m stronger, better, faster, because I train while you sleep.”

I APPLIED FOR ARTICLES TO MORE THAN 30 LAW FIRMS … AND EVERY ONE OF THEM HAD A REASON NOT TO HIRE ME

Learn, learn and never stop learning. Try to become the goto person in your preferred field. Start raising your profile and developing your brand from day one at work. You can only do this if you are on top of what is happening in your practice area.

Respect, and learn from, everyone, even the quirky fellows who try to pull rank on you when they say “remember I’ve been practising law from before you were born”. Even they have something to teach.

Pay it forward. Do not ever forget that if you are given a big break, some young person years down the line will also deserve something similar.

Be patient, but not too patient. You are the maker of your own destiny and cannot just wait for things to happen.

So, if you have been sending out many copies of your CV and have been rejected as many times as I was, do not lose heart.

There are many other ways to start your career and to prosper: one of them may even be to join the “walk the streets of the city club”.

I wish you all of the very best. I know you will be fine.