Legal sector’s plea for economic relief

THE LEGAL fraternity is battling the economic effects of the Covid-19 lockdown.

To ensure that some practices do not close shop, the Legal Practice Council, among others, has suggested that legal services be declared essential services. This is so that most matters, and not only limited specific and extremely urgent matters, may proceed under restricted conditions.

Another measure suggested to bring some economic relief to this sector is the use of the Attorneys Development Fund to assist legal practitioners who fall within the most vulnerable group.

The organisation said it would consider establishing a benevolent scheme to ameliorate the financial hardship faced by some legal practitioners.

These suggestions follow a request by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola to provide him with “an assessment of the current business and economic impact of the measures” implemented pursuant to the declaration of the national State of Disaster.

The minister acknowledged that the lockdown had a “direct bearing on the viability and financial health of practices both small and big across the nation”.

The Law Practice Council (formerly law society) said that revenue for attorneys mostly comprised fees billed and collected. The expenses for a law firm remain unchanged during lockdown and approximately 80% of these expenses are allocated to salaries, office rental, legal practitioner levies and other operational expenses – money which many firms, especially the smaller ones, cannot afford.

Some firms have received letters from clients informing them that they were not able to pay their accounts during the lockdown. This, it said, had a ripple effect on paying their other service providers.

The organisation said most of those in the legal fraternity owed fees by state departments during the lockdown were black and female lawyers. Others struggling were young attorneys and advocates.

The legal umbrella organisation proposed that all government departments and state-owned entities which owed on invoices for legal practitioners make immediate payment.

It also proposed that legal practitioners be (conditionally) allowed to access their offices for work and that high and lower courts be opened to deal with urgent as well as normal opposed and trial matters. This, it proposed, should be done remotely by video conference, where possible.