About Ruben
"I completed my LLB degree at Stellenbosch University in 2012. Thereafter, I completed my two years of articles and was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa in February 2015.
I have been in practice ever since, first as a personal assistant for about five years, and thereafter I opened my own firm in late 2019. I have been practicing for my own account for coming up to seven years, and have been in practice for eleven and a half years, mostly focusing on general litigation, commercial and insolvency work.
I have had exposure to conveyancing in my practice, but I always had to get conveyancers to sign off and execute for me, which became frustrating and costly."
On enrolling at the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law
"I bought the package where you receive the study material and the online videos – the Structured 5-month course.
Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule, I very quickly made peace with the fact that I would not have enough time to follow the recommended weekly framework and videos, and basically only studied the material at my own pace and time after hours."
"I passed Paper 2 (drafting) with the highest mark in the Western Cape and second-highest mark in the country."
On facing challenges
"I had to keep my practice, RLH Attorneys, going. I still had rent and salaries to pay, so it was stressful to juggle and manage that.
But with a lot of grace, the work kept coming in. I had to learn to effectively space my time between study, work, and my family life. I have a nine-, six- and one-year-old at home, so I am eternally grateful to my wife for standing in and helping in that regard.
I had to say no to a lot of socials, and I could not attend school sport tours, due to the fact that I had to study during the March school holidays."
"Just like all good things in life, it doesn’t come automatically, but only via hard work and dedication. Effective time management was very important for me."
Ruben's conveyancing exam tips
"When using Gawie’s notes, I think it is crucial to study the forms (drafting) while attending to the perusal of the theory (notes), and not to study them in isolation.
What I also found to be helpful was to summarise and simplify the notes as I went along – for example, the various endorsement applications and CRT applications – when the application needs to be in the form of an affidavit, and the various forms of advertisements and time requirements needed.
I think the fact that I have been in practice for almost twelve years assisted me a lot with the drafting paper, and the application of the theory when one attends to the drafting of conveyancing applications, POAs, and Deeds."
You need time to get through all the work and to effectively apply your mind
"I felt demotivated for years, and thought that I didn’t need conveyancing in my practice. Until I realised that conveyancing plays a pivotal role in any successful law practice.
I heard rumours of the low pass rate, but just like anything in life, if you apply your mind and work hard, you will achieve that goal.
My advice is, do not go into the exam half-heartedly, because there is no room for error in conveyancing; then you will most definitely fail. I can understand why the Gawie le Roux website indicated that you need six months to study; the workload is a lot.
What assisted me was the fact that I have been in practice for some time, hence it took me three months. The fact of the matter is that you need time to get through all the work, and to effectively apply your mind. Furthermore, it is crucial to work through as many past papers as you can. You will not find a repeated question, but you can pick up a trend here and there regarding the way they ask the questions, which assisted me tremendously."
What's next?
"The notarial practice exam in September."
Last updated on 3 July 2026.