Find an attorney

First ask whether you need an attorney at all

A great deal of South African legal work costs nothing, and paying for it is money thrown away. The CCMA hears workplace disputes free on 0861 16 16 16. The Maintenance Court, the Children's Court, the Equality Court and the Rental Housing Tribunal are all built for people who arrive without a lawyer, and the clerks help you with the forms. Ombud schemes for insurance, banking, credit, motor and retail disputes cost you nothing. Legal Aid South Africa provides actual representation to people who pass its means test, on 0800 110 110. The Small Claims Court hears modest money claims with no attorney on either side, and the Small Claims Court checker tells you whether yours fits. If you are in immediate danger, phone SAPS on 10111 first.

The full list of free routes, with what each covers, is on the free legal help page. Read it before you pay anybody.

You do need an attorney when you have been served with court papers, when the other side already has one, when a home, a child or your liberty is at stake, when a lasting document must be drafted, or when the amount involved is big enough to change your life.

How to choose one

Start with the right kind of work, not the closest office. Attorneys specialise. A firm that does excellent property transfers may be the wrong choice for a CCMA arbitration. Look for somebody who does your kind of matter regularly, in the forum where your matter will be heard.

Then weigh three practical things. Location, because a firm near the relevant court saves travel time you would otherwise pay for. Size, because a big firm has depth and a small firm often gives you the senior person directly. Communication, because most complaints about attorneys are not about the law at all. They are about calls not returned.

Speak to more than one. A first consultation is often short and sometimes free, and it tells you whether the person explains things in language you follow. If you leave less clear than when you arrived, that is information. Check what legal help costs for your kind of matter beforehand, so you can tell a normal quote from an unusual one.

Check the person is genuinely an attorney

Anybody can call themselves a legal consultant. Only a person admitted and enrolled may practise as an attorney.

The Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 created the Legal Practice Council, which regulates attorneys and advocates across the country. It keeps the roll of practitioners, sets the code of conduct, and handles complaints. The Council can confirm whether a named person is enrolled, whether the enrolment is current, and whether the practitioner is in good standing.

There is a second check that matters even more when money is involved. An attorney who holds client money must hold a valid Fidelity Fund certificate for that year, issued through the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund. A practitioner without one should not be receiving your money into trust at all.

So do this before you hand over anything. Ask for the practitioner's full name as it appears on the roll, the firm's name, the Legal Practice Council registration details and the Fidelity Fund certificate. Then verify with the Council yourself, using contact details you found through the Council rather than details supplied by the firm. It takes minutes, and it is the most useful thing on this page.

What our verification badge means, and what it does not

Every firm listed here has been checked against the Legal Practice Council register before it can appear or receive an enquiry. That is what the badge records: at the time we checked, the practice was registered.

It does not mean more than that. It is not a quality rating, not a recommendation, and no endorsement. It says nothing about whether an attorney is good at your kind of matter, whether they will answer your calls, whether their fees are reasonable, or how a matter will turn out. Registration is a floor, not a verdict.

Registration also changes. A practitioner can be suspended or struck off after we checked, and a named attorney can leave the firm. Treat the badge as a starting point and do your own check with the Council anyway, particularly before you pay money.

LawMatch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. The content on this site has been reviewed by Shephard Dube, who holds an LLB and is not an admitted attorney, so that review is not the same as being told by somebody on the Council's roll what your own facts mean. Everything here is general information to help you have a better conversation with a professional.

The questions to ask before you instruct anyone

Ask these in the first meeting, and ask for the answers in writing afterwards.

What will this cost? Not the hourly rate on its own. Ask for an estimate for the next stage of the work, in hours or as a fixed fee, and ask what would make it go higher.

How am I being charged? By the hour, at a fixed fee, on a contingency basis, or against a retainer held in trust. Ask whether the figures include value added tax, and ask separately about disbursements, which are the costs the firm pays out on your behalf, such as sheriff's fees, court fees, expert reports and counsel.

Who will actually do the work? The person you meet is often not the person who drafts. Ask for the name and rate of everybody who will touch the file, and ask whether an advocate is likely to be briefed.

How long will this realistically take? Ask for the next three steps and a date for each, not a final answer. Anybody who promises a result, or a date for the end of a contested matter, is guessing.

What are the risks? Ask what happens if you lose, including whether a costs order could be made against you. Ask what the weakest part of your case is. An attorney who tells you your case is perfect is either not listening or not being straight with you.

Get the mandate in writing

A mandate is the agreement between you and the firm about the work. Get it before anything starts, and read it.

It should name the parties and describe the matter. It should define the scope, meaning exactly what work is included and what is not. It should set out the fee basis and the rate of every person who will work on the file, how disbursements are handled and estimated, and whether value added tax is included. It should say how often you will be invoiced and in what detail. It should record any cap you have agreed and that no work above it happens without your written go ahead. It should say how the mandate ends and what happens to money still held in trust. And it should say who your contact is and how quickly you can expect a reply.

Keep every version, and confirm any change to the scope or the fee by email on the day it is agreed. A short message saying what you understood is worth a great deal later.

Never pay into an account you have not verified

Attorneys' trust accounts are a target for fraud, and the pattern is always the same. You receive an email that looks exactly like your firm's, often in the middle of a real thread, saying the banking details have changed. The money goes and it is very hard to get back.

So treat every set of banking details as unverified until you have confirmed them by voice. Phone the firm on a number you looked up yourself, from your own records or from the Legal Practice Council, never a number in the email or on the invoice. Ask for the person handling your matter by name. Read the account number back digit by digit. Where a large amount is going across, send a small test payment first and phone to confirm it landed before sending the rest.

Two more rules. Never pay a large sum in cash. And be very cautious about a request to change details at the last minute, or pressure to transfer today.

If you are unhappy

Work through it in order.

Raise it in writing with the firm first. Set out what happened, with dates, and say what you want. Ask for an itemised account showing the date of each entry, who did the work and how long it took. Most firms have somebody who handles complaints, so ask who. A written complaint that goes nowhere is still useful, because it becomes the record.

Then the Legal Practice Council. It handles complaints about the conduct of attorneys, including overcharging, poor service, failing to account for money and dishonesty. Send it the correspondence, the mandate and the invoices. If your dispute is about the size of a bill, you can also ask for the account to be taxed, which is where an independent official of the court goes through the bill item by item.

Then the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund, but only for one thing. The Fund exists to compensate people who lose money that was entrusted to a practitioner and then stolen. It is not there for a matter that simply went badly, for advice you disagree with, or for fees you think are too high. Claims have strict requirements and time limits, so act quickly and get help with the claim.

How matching works on LawMatch

You describe your problem, where you are and how urgent it is. We pass the enquiry to a small number of verified firms that handle that kind of work in your area. Those firms contact you, and you decide whether to speak to any of them.

It is free to you. LawMatch never charges a member of the public, takes no share of any fee you later pay an attorney, and does not charge a percentage of any matter.

Firms pay us a fixed amount for each enquiry they accept. That amount is set in advance for the practice area and does not change with the value of your matter, so no firm can bid for your enquiry or pay more to be put in front of you. A firm can pay a flat monthly fee for a featured listing, which is labelled as featured wherever it appears, and paid placement stops there.

Being matched is not a recommendation and not advice about your matter. You are free to speak to none of the firms, to find another yourself, or to use one of the free routes above instead. Firms can read how it works for attorneys and the terms for firms, which are public so you can see what a listed firm has agreed to.