The General Council of the Bar (GCB) and the Pan African Bar Association (Pabasa), will intervene in a court case to defend the Legal Sector Code.
Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa (NRF) has gone to court to challenge the code as unlawful and unconstitutional.
The code, which came into effect in September, sets ambitious empowerment targets for the legal sector, including a 50% ownership target by year 5 — the highest ownership target in any sector code, said NRF in its court papers.
With legal bodies pulling in different directions, the court case is likely to lay bare existing fractures in the legal community on the contentious issue of transformation in the sector.
NRF said its status would drop from a level 1 contributor to a level 6 contributor. “This will … severely affect [the firm’s] ability to attract local clients and all but extinguish its ability to obtain work directly from the state,” said NRF’s CEO Brent Botha in his affidavit to the Pretoria high court.
GCB chair Ahditya Kissoon Singh SC confirmed this week that the GCB had resolved to intervene in the case to defend the code. He said it was not a unanimous decision.
The president of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel), Mvuzo Notyesi, said Nadel would also intervene. South Africa’s legal sector had long been marked by structural inequality and the code was a “crucial mechanism to correct this legacy,” he said.
The Black Lawyers Association has also been reported as intending to enter the fray.