When it comes to articles there are many different paths to choose from, make sure you choose the right one. Bowman Gilfillan
THE PRACTICE
Our Approach
We believe that Bowman Gilfillan has one of the best combinations of qualities of any leading and progressive law firm. Since the start of our practice over a hundred years ago, we have remained unsurpassed in the make-up of our client-base and the nature of the work that we do. Nevertheless, one of our greatest strengths is that Bowman Gilfillan’s culture is and has remained congenial and informal. For those who work at Bowman Gilfillan, it is not simply their place of work; it is also the place where professional experience is developed and lasting relationships are formed. We make a great effort to ensure that, in so far as it is possible, our lawyers work in a comfortable physical environment and have access to the most modern technology available in Africa.
Our practice is broad and diverse. It is composed of core competencies and experience and constantly evolving areas of new legal developments. We have in recent times grown the international focus of our practice. We represent leading international financial institutions, corporates, and governments in respect of their dealings in South Africa and the rest of the African continent. The transformation of the South African economy and the NEPAD (New Plan for African Development) initiative have created new opportunities for innovative legal solutions. Our strategic drive into the rest of the African continent presents exciting challenges and professional growth opportunities for young lawyers.
We take a generalist approach to the development of our junior professionals. Our lawyers are trained to develop fundamental legal skills and experience through a combination of wide-ranging assignments and responsibilities complemented by in-house training. New lawyers are given significant responsibility and direct client contact, subject at all times to overall supervision to ensure quality control. Our candidate attorneys rotate through the various practice areas of our firm, to enable them to make informed choices about their areas of specialization.
Some areas of practice include:
THE FIRM
Background
Bowman Gilfillan is one of the oldest (over 100 years), largest (over 80 partners) and leading law firms in South Africa. The firm has its office in Johannesburg (Sandton) and other offices in Cape Town and London. Bowman Gilfillan is widely respected and regarded for its professionalism and providing legal services of the highest caliber on the African continent.
Our People
At Bowman Gilfillan, we are privileged to have a diverse group of people with a broad spectrum of skills. The extensive experience of our senior professionals, combined with a group of young and enthusiastic partners, many of whom have international qualifications and experience, have created breadth and depth and a higher degree of specialization in our practice. In addition, our partners have an open door policy which facilitates communication between all levels in the firm. The atmosphere within our firm is friendly, supportive and non-competitive, notwithstanding our commitment to providing our client with legal services of the highest quality.
Our reputation enables us to attract top graduates. Nevertheless, we go to great lengths to select the most suitable law, science and engineering graduates from all universities. We follow a policy of employment equity and are committed to ensuring diversity amongst our lawyers. The new political and economic dispensation and the accompanying transformation process in South Africa and the New Plan for African Development (NEPAD) have created new challenges and exciting opportunities for our firm. We are the first major South African law firm to develop and adopt a Transformation Charter which will guide our firm in its transformation process. Our firm has also taken the strategic decision for our practice to have an African continent wide focus instead of it being solely South African focused. We are also committed to making a contribution to the wider community. This is reflected by our ever increasing involvement in pro-bono work.
The nature of our practice is such that we are exposed to, and keep pace with, international trends and developments through our links with leading law firms practicing in the world’s major financial centers. We have reciprocal short-term exchange programmes with major firms in these centers. In-house training programmes and seminars ensure that our lawyers keep abreast of local and international developments in law, commerce, finance and technology. There are opportunities for local and overseas secondments such as the Public Defender programme, the London Office and programmes which allow young professionals to travel to the United States for a year.
Our Values and our commitment
Our standards of professional excellence mean that our services extend beyond furnishing technically correct legal advice. To achieve this, we focus on a broader understanding both of the issues at stake and of our clients’ needs to arrive at the most innovative, appropriate, cost-effective solutions. We are committed to playing a meaningful role on a micro and macro level in the social, economic, legal and political life in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
We are committed to
- Excellence
- Insisting on the highest ethical standards
- Promoting diversity and equal opportunities for all our people
- Understanding our clients businesses and needs
- Sharing expertise and resources between our various areas of specialization
- Aiming for continuous improvement and innovation in all our activities
- Providing focused attention, optimal solutions and efficient implementation
- Creating long-term partnerships with our clients and associates
TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Development and Hands-on Training
Our goal is to train exceptional and responsive lawyers with broad based skills rather than lawyers with an overly narrow focus. This is reflected in the approach we take to professional development. We focus our training on the broadest possible development of general skills, experiences and expertise. We also encourage our junior professionals in due course to develop expertise in specific types of transactions or areas of the law. In certain of our particularly specialized areas of practice, we encourage our junior professionals interested in those practices to devote a significant amount of time to these specialties early on to develop the necessary knowledge to practice effectively at a junior level.
New candidate attorneys are expected to participate in all aspects of cases and transactions in which they are involved. This is driven by the view that intelligent and highly motivated lawyers learn best by exposure and “hands on” experience. Our firm has a most competent information technology and telecommunications staff. We place a strong emphasis on ensuring that our lawyers have all the up-to-date technology and telecommunications they need for their client work. The staff monitor developments in this area and, working closely with our lawyers and our equipment providers, are constantly updating and extending our systems.
Our candidate attorneys will rotate through different departments in the firm during their articles. Each candidate attorney is expected to complete at least one corporate and one litigation rotation, which in our view ensures a well-rounded lawyer emerges at the end of a period of articles.
In addition to the Practical Legal Training required by the Law Society, our candidate attorneys receive in-house training which includes a course of practical classes on corporate law and, moots in the litigation department, discussion-orientated seminars in the employment department and also attend the Bowman Gilfillan Corporate Masterclass course. In our view, this practical formal training complements what candidate attorneys learn on the job.
Candidate Attorney Compensation
Bowman Gilfillan’s candidate attorney (CA) compensation is competitive with South Africa’s other leading law firms, and has consistently been considered as one of the best. The firm provides benefits such as medical aid as well as disability and life insurance for candidate attorneys. Medical aid coverage for spouses and children is also available. Various other benefits also exist.
RECRUITMENT
Candidate Attorney Programme
Our new lawyers represent the future of Bowman Gilfillan. Accordingly, we generally recruit exceptional law students with distinguished academic and extracurricular records, and the firm has tended to retain a large portion of its candidate attorneys, emphasizing organic growth rather than lateral hiring. We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to recruiting a diverse group of lawyers. Moreover, we believe it is important that our lawyers and staff reflect the multi-cultural diversity and international scope of the world in which we practice.
Interviews are held at our offices and members of our recruitment committee visit various universities around the country to conduct interviews with prospective candidate attorneys. Selections are made throughout the year for candidate attorney vacancies in the subsequent year. We require our potential lawyers to demonstrate grit, drive, depth and passion.
Please direct all applications, including a covering letter, comprehensive CV and academic transcripts, matric certificate and copy of I.D. to the Human Resources department.
Shaun Joseph (Sandton)
T : 011 669 9142
F : 011 669 9001
Email: s.joseph@bowman.co.za
P.O. Box 785812
Sandton
2146
Susan Husk (Cape Town)
T : 021 480 7800
F : 021 480 7960
Email: s.husk@bowman.co.za
P.O. Box 248
Cape Town
8000
Student Vacation Programme
The goal of our vacation programme, which is run for a period of two weeks in both the summer and winter vacations, is to introduce law students to the firm, its lawyers and practice, with as realistic an experience in a major law firm as possible. We put a lot of effort into involving students in our legal work. Students will be exposed to a series of talks and discussions. Opportunities exist for both the vacation student and the firm to learn more about each other, through working together and social events which are organized. Posters advertising the vacation programme will appear on campus. The summer programme is usually in December/January and the winter programme is usually in June/July. It is advisable to have at least 1 year's academic results to be eligible for consideration.
The Winter Student Vacation Programme will run from 23 June to 4 July 2008.
Please direct all applications, including a covering letter, comprehensive CV and academic transcripts, matric certificate and copy of I.D. to the Human Resources department.
Shaun Joseph (Sandton)
T : 011 669 9142
F : 011 669 9001
Email: s.joseph@bowman.co.za
P.O. Box 785812
Sandton
2146
Susan Husk (Cape Town)
T : 021 480 7800
F : 021 480 7960
Email: s.husk@bowman.co.za
PO Box 248
Cape Town
8000 |
