Tshepo Mpshe attended the LPC-accredited Advanced trial advocacy course.
Candidates who demonstrate their competence during this course receive a certificate enabling them to apply to the Legal Practice Council (LPC) for the -
- right of appearance in the High Court (s 25(3)); or
- conversion from attorney to advocate (s 32(1)(a)).
About Tshepo
"I am a Director/Attorney at TT MPSHE ATTORNEYS INC for six months to date."
Background
"I hold a Masters in Industrial Engineering from Tshwane University of Technology and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of South Africa."
On enrolling in the trial advocacy course at the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law
"I am always looking for opportunities to advance my skills and having been to court a number of times with an advocate, I felt a need to improve my trial advocacy skills. In addition, I desired to have a right to sign my own client’s pleadings and with the current legislation requiring one to have a right of admission before then, I needed to attend the course."
On the practical benefits of the course
"I am now in a position to apply for right of appearance and empowered to actively participate in litigation on behalf of and for my clients. Furthermore, I am now able to save clients legal fees in matters that do not require expertise I do not have at the moment and are sitting in the higher courts."
Key takeaways
- "Presiding officers are, like all human beings, subject to bias.
- If you are unable to write a closing statement at the beginning of a trial, you will have a difficult trial.
- Moral appeal is important in litigation."
"I came back more confident of my appearance in court and ability to present a convincing case for my client. I am now careful of word selection and the moral appeal in court. My perception that presiding officers remain neutral throughout the trial has been realigned as I realise that it was humanly impossible to do so."
What's next?
"I will be applying for right of appearance even though I find the practice to be prejudicial to attorneys as advocates have an automatic right of appearance by virtue of being admitted as such; I will continue to advocate that the trial advocacy course be part of the pre-admission training requirements for all candidate legal practitioners."