One of the fundamental problems that black lawyers are facing in the bid to transform the make-up of legal firms and employment of advocates is the unfortunate legacy we are still carrying from the days of apartheid. Clients — both black and white — are nervous about using black attorneys in the mistaken belief that they are sub-standard. They believe that black attorneys got through by being marked on a curve or their numbers are swelled by those that were pushed through the system in order to get black bodies on the ground.
Apartheid taught us that unless it was white, male and South African, particularly insofar as Africa is concerned, it was substandard. Whites in particular would never have used a Kenyan doctor, Zimbabwean accountant and Ugandan lawyer, even if they were converted and accepted by our professional bodies and acceptable under the laws of apartheid, because white males were perceived to be the only safe bet. Hardly surprising, if you consider that the system sold them to you as the only thing that was worthy of your trust.
It therefore came as no surprise to read that the legal world is still considered a white man’s club, as set out in this article by Kim Hawkey in yesterday’s Sunday Times.
If you consider the problems that senior partners of law firms encounter on a daily basis, anything from overheads to negligence, then this one is always going to be a bit of a prickly pear. I have no doubt that they would support 80% of their firms being made up of black attorneys, male or female, subject to one small condition — that you the public will support these attorneys. They want to know that they will still be in business if they pitch in and help with the transformation that we are looking to achieve.
While legislation can only do so much to advance the process, the answer lies with the public changing their misguided perception of the competence of black attorneys. If that goes then you will immediately see a turnaround in the number of black firms and the use of black attorneys in traditionally white firms.
Black lawyers are as good as white lawyers. The reason why they don’t start their own firms is because, like white attorneys, they are asking themselves whether they have the client base to sustain themselves. You can take it as read that they know they are good enough but will you, the public, support them? Do you think they like working for other people when they could earn far more on their own? Their reluctance comes down to concerns about putting food on the table.
While I practiced for a number of years as a civil attorney and acted for some of the biggest clients around, in 1997 I specialised as a criminal attorney. In terms hereof I have focused on trials in the magistrate’s and High Courts. Notwithstanding, I still deal with civil attorneys on a regular basis as many of the matters overlap. Divorce, corporate law, liquidations — anything you can think of — has a civil and criminal side.
As such I get to deal with civil and criminal black attorneys up close and personal on a regular basis.
In the field of criminal law many of them act as prosecutors, defence attorneys and even magistrates. Like their white colleagues there are some good and some not so good. Pound for pound there is no difference between using a black or white lawyer. Some you will swear by and some you will swear at.
When I am in court I am just as happy to ask my black colleagues for guidance on a point of law and they are just as capable. I have conducted trials with a number of accused where all the attorneys assisting the other accused are black and found them to be extremley competent.
Their only problem is the perception that is carried by you, the public. The sooner you ditch the misconceptions that I have referred to the sooner we can avoid Kim Hawkey having to write another article like the one she penned in the Sunday Times.
The same applies to the civil attorneys. If my client is divorcing or has a contract in a civil matter running parallel to the criminal trial and I am referred to a black attorney on the issue, I have no problem whatsoever. On the odd occasion I might find a dud but no more than among white attorneys. In general they are highly competent and dare I say it, a touch frendlier to deal with.
Accordingly if my colleagues and I have no problem with the competence of black attorneys then neither should you. This does not mean you should be out there selecting only black attorneys, but rather not turning those in front of you away. Demographics means that more and more black attorneys will be referred to you, encounter you when you are out to dinner or try and sell their services to you.
If you accept them and value them as attorneys without allowing preconceived ideas to filter them out then transformation will happen far sooner — in this case because the public has helped to facilitate it by simply giving people a chance.
Think about it.
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