How to kill a law firm...

and how to save it...

I'm writing this two days before Christmas. Someone posted on a social media platform earlier today that over this festive season, we should all "take a break" and spend the time with family and relax.

How I would dearly love to enjoy this holiday, relax and take time off.

Not this year.

2020, for most industries, has been chaotic. I've had many conversations from other attorneys in Cape Town, and I am yet to meet someone who has not been adversely affected by all of the events of this year. Let's take a few steps back, and re-look at the South African legal industry from March onwards this year. I remember- I had taken the week off to drive to the Eastern Cape from Cape Town. After a 1200km drive, I arrived in lovely Haga Haga, Eastern Cape, only minutes before hearing President Cyril Ramaphosa's speech on TV that the whole country would be in lockdown, and that all provincial borders would be closing. We had to make a decision quickly. The next day we packed up, and having spent only a day on holiday, we trekked back to Cape Town. When we got back, we were exhausted. I spent most of the time on the phone, trying to calm down panicked clients who wanted to know what would happen with their property transfer if the Deeds Office would be closed during lockdown. All I could say at the time, was that it would of course delay transfer, but we would only know in time what would happen, and that it was out of our hands.

Then the retrenchments came. We started getting a flood of queries from clients who had just been retrenched due to the effects of lockdown- some instances where procedure had been followed, some where procedure had clearly not been followed, to the detriment of the now-retrenched employee. We had to witness friends and family members lose their jobs, and the amount of probono and pro-amico work we did during this time was probably more than the amount of billable work we did. Income from pensions dropped, and I lost a family member to suicide, due to the financial pressures. I recall falling ill and needing to go to the ER at hospital at night, only to be told it would be better to go home as there was only one doctor available due to Covid19. It was a very strange time.

The painful effect of lockdown was felt on law firms in April and May, especially between 1 April 2020 and 1 May 2020 (usually, in conveyancing firms, fees are invoiced on registration of transfer of a property- if transfer doesn't happen, you don't get fees). With the Deeds Office closed, transfer could not happen end of March and end of April (and during the month). Rates clearance certificates expired during this time, antenuptial agreements passed the three month registration date, and we had to try and sort this out in our own time "on our own dime". This pushed out time to bill, and during this time, many firms retrenched staff- because much-needed fees were needed in April and May (the Deeds Offices re-opened 13 May), but could not be billed. Rental still got charged to most law firms by landlords, even though our practices were closed and we were working remotely. It was a bloodbath. The Masters Office was to some extent closed during this time too- and if you can't finalise an estate, you can't get your fees. Court work was affected, and so was the ability to earn an income during this time. Clients became impatient and upset, no matter how much we tried to explain the difficulties we were facing. When we were finally able to attend court, the Deeds Office and the Masters Office again, we could not do so as we usually did. Up until recently, almost half of each day was spent in queues at the various courts, Masters Offices and Deeds Office. Some of us survived financially during this time, and thankfully. Others were unfortunately not.

Fast forward a few months later, and the chaos is still present. There's been a tremendous amount of litigation that has arisen from the lockdown- cancellation of weddings, events, retrenchments, companies' inability to pay rent due to lockdown, evictions, etc. It has been a hard and trying year to witness. From a law firm perspective, our normal operational expenses are still exactly what they were a year ago, but with the annual escalations, of course. Timely payment of accounts by clients (so I hear, and in some cases, experience) is at an all-time low. Because we spend a lot of the time in queues, we have less time to spend on work in the day, which means extra input is needed at night. So- we have less fees, less time and the normal financial commitments.

What we need, is the Deeds Office to stay open. The Masters Office to stay open. Courts to function. I am not saying that they should stay open when lives are at risk with Covid19. I am saying that TECHNOLOGY needs to be developed and implemented- quickly- more technology implemented so that we can finally use it for conveyancing, court work as well as deceased estates. What has happened to moving toward electronic registration of deeds in conveyancing? It is taking too long for this to be implemented. Why can we not have an electronic system in all legal departments? Surely it can be done, with the right vendors? We are in the 21st century and in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I've seen such amazing innovation, and we desperately need it to be implemented in the legal industry. Why is it not moving faster? Efficiency in the legal industry means access to justice and ease of access to justice. I do not intend for this to come across as criticism, or a "moan". I am merely pointing out that something needs to happen, and quickly- Covid19 may well exist at the end of next year, as well as the next. We can't afford it, but we can take steps to make it work- but we need everyone on board to make it happen.

These views are the personal views of the writer, and is not shared on behalf of any organisation, business or entity.