International law firm Eversheds has introduced a practical training course for candidate attorneys. The course satisfies the statutory requirements of attending a board course approved by the relevant law society for the purposes of admission as an attorney, explains training and skills development manager Nicky Sher.

Eversheds runs this programme in association with the Law Society of South Africa’s subsidiary, Legal Education and Development. Sher explains that lecturers are mainly from the ranks of attorneys practising at the firm and who have a minimum of three years’ experience in the relevant subject field.

She says the company decided to implement this programme after several candidate attorneys faced transportation challenges to the various training centres where the programmes were already in place.
“As part of their training, candidate attorneys are required to give presentations to other professional staff on topics of interest, and are encouraged to write research articles,” she says.

The Eversheds Law School also offers a practical legal training programme to external candidate attorneys. Legal bursaries for up to five previously disadvantaged candidates are on offer from the firm.

Applicants are invited to apply to attend the programme, and bursary applications are available on request. Bursary applicants then undergo a short interview process, after which five bursaries are awarded.

Meanwhile, Sher notes that another significant challenge evident among graduates attending the Eversheds Law School is the poor level of written communication skills. “This affects the entire legal education system and needs to be addressed as soon as possible,” she laments.

Sher believes a possible contributor to this problem is modern technology. “The use of SMS communication, as well as the increased number of informal emails being sent, plays a role in the lack of command of written communication skills,” she notes.

The company is, therefore, taking a holistic approach towards alleviating this problem through a work readiness programme, which will be offered in the graduate induction programme in 2012. This programme will be held over five days and includes a communication skills module.

Besides these developments, Eversheds offers a yearly bursary to a University of the Witwatersrand Bachelor of Law student in the penultimate year of study. “The recipient also qualifies for automatic assessment for the Eversheds articles of clerkship,” Sher explains.

Also, Eversheds’ partners host various lectures throughout the year in an effort to improve legal education and development by providing updates on any new developments within the legal fraternity.