The headline of a recent article read: "Legal world still a white man's club". No. It isn't.
The leader of the General Council of the Bar is a senior black advocate. The national leader of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the Johannesburg chapter of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the largest association of advocates, the Johannesburg Bar, is a senior black advocate. The co-leader of the Law Society of South Africa is a senior black attorney. The legal world is, in fact, a black man's club.
Reading this article a few weeks ago, I could have sworn I was back in 1990. We as black professionals must face the facts. Things have changed; we simply have not changed with them. We hold leadership positions, yet we still cling steadfastly to the rickety scaffolding that is victim-hood.
We hold positions in private companies and state-owned enterprises that confer on us the power to decide which firm and which advocate gets the privilege to represent the companies we lead in litigation, or to provide us with a legal opinion that could help our companies either avert litigation or successfully engage in it. Yet we run instinctively to a white firm and white advocate and then claim, without any rudimentary research, that there are no black firms or black advocates with capacity to handle the work we generate.
"Black advocates are no good"
Worse still, we brief one black advocate in a matter. He mucks it up and we conclude, satisfied in the accuracy of our prediction, that black advocates are no good. This is scandalous.
Let's face the facts. We are not victims of the white man's club syndrome. We are victims of our own inferiority complex. It appears leadership positions have stunned us into self-importance, given us a licence to share bad jokes with the Ruperts and the Venters who no sooner had we introduced ourselves — for the umpteenth time — than our names had already been forgotten (again). Leadership positions have transformed our once awkward and self-conscious gait into a nonchalant swagger and an occasional swig of cognac in the company of captains of BEE industry. It should not be so.
We have the opportunity and the power to change briefing patterns in the legal profession. What we lack is the will to do so. I suggest we look in the mirror, shame ourselves, and then talk to each other and find solutions that will end this debate because, quite frankly, it has become rather stuffy.
The steps that need taking are simple. First, black people are in charge here. There is no reason why we should still be complaining.
Let's stop blaming white firms for our woes. Let's start by talking to each other and solve this thing ourselves. We can. We must.
Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana is a member of the Johannesburg Bar.
http://business.iafrica.com/features/2521640.htm
Food for thought.
The leader of the General Council of the Bar is a senior black advocate. The national leader of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the Johannesburg chapter of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the largest association of advocates, the Johannesburg Bar, is a senior black advocate. The co-leader of the Law Society of South Africa is a senior black attorney. The legal world is, in fact, a black man's club.
Reading this article a few weeks ago, I could have sworn I was back in 1990. We as black professionals must face the facts. Things have changed; we simply have not changed with them. We hold leadership positions, yet we still cling steadfastly to the rickety scaffolding that is victim-hood.
We hold positions in private companies and state-owned enterprises that confer on us the power to decide which firm and which advocate gets the privilege to represent the companies we lead in litigation, or to provide us with a legal opinion that could help our companies either avert litigation or successfully engage in it. Yet we run instinctively to a white firm and white advocate and then claim, without any rudimentary research, that there are no black firms or black advocates with capacity to handle the work we generate.
"Black advocates are no good"
Worse still, we brief one black advocate in a matter. He mucks it up and we conclude, satisfied in the accuracy of our prediction, that black advocates are no good. This is scandalous.
Let's face the facts. We are not victims of the white man's club syndrome. We are victims of our own inferiority complex. It appears leadership positions have stunned us into self-importance, given us a licence to share bad jokes with the Ruperts and the Venters who no sooner had we introduced ourselves — for the umpteenth time — than our names had already been forgotten (again). Leadership positions have transformed our once awkward and self-conscious gait into a nonchalant swagger and an occasional swig of cognac in the company of captains of BEE industry. It should not be so.
We have the opportunity and the power to change briefing patterns in the legal profession. What we lack is the will to do so. I suggest we look in the mirror, shame ourselves, and then talk to each other and find solutions that will end this debate because, quite frankly, it has become rather stuffy.
The steps that need taking are simple. First, black people are in charge here. There is no reason why we should still be complaining.
Let's stop blaming white firms for our woes. Let's start by talking to each other and solve this thing ourselves. We can. We must.
Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana is a member of the Johannesburg Bar.
http://business.iafrica.com/features/2521640.htm
Food for thought.
