The updates to the Legal Practice Act will adjust minimum payment for candidate attorneys in different areas and also adds new requirements such as 40 hours community service for practicing attorneys (candidate attorneys will be required to do 8 hours and will be supervised).
Many of the attorneys who work in the debt review side of things already do some community service.
For example, we spoke to attorney, Wessel Symington, of Steyn Coetzee Attorneys who is well known for doing many probono cases on behalf of financially stressed consumers. He says that it is a “good initiative from the LPC and for debt review attorneys it provides an opportunity to assist an over indebted consumer free of charge”
So, it seems this new requirement will fit in nicely with the opportunity to assist some consumers who do not have the means to even cover the costs of the debt review applications at court.
Where such consumers come along it might be appropriate for Debt Counsellors to talk to their attorneys and see if this might be a suitable case where their community service hours might be well used.