NAEELAH WILLIAMS

Job Description

· Giving general legal advice and assessing the merits of client’s cases to determine prospects of success.

The nature of the cases include but are not limited to; labour, divorce, eviction proceedings, immigration, pension, provident, housing and deceased estates .

· Referring cases that have merit and strong prospects of success to our panel of attorneys.

· Facilitating attorney training Seminars by organising attorneys who have specialised in certain fields to give a presentation to fellow attorneys. This is done in partnership with various law firms who either avail themselves as speakers or provide venues to enable the seminar.

· Facilitating community workshops, by organising attorneys to prepare and present workshops in various communities on legal matters that have been identified by Community Development Workers.

· Running legal clinics in marginalised communities to give pro bono legal advice or to take on qualifying cases which will then be referred to our panel attorneys for litigation or alternative resolution.

· Presenting at community workshops when no panel attorney available to present.

· Conducting information sessions on our organisation in various areas in and around Cape Town.

Interns

· Equipping interns to understand legal process, practical application of law, legal research, client etiquette and formal legal writing.

· Mentoring, training, managing and monitoring case management of the interns

· Providing feedback to the interns on work attended to.

· Providing career guidance to interns.

Community Development Projects

· Establishment of legal clinics in Cape Town in the following townships:

o Langa 2017 to date (Paused due to Covid-19)

o Heideveld 2017 to date (Paused due to Covid-19)

o Sir Lowry’s Pass 2019 to date (Paused due to Covid-19)

· Provide legal advice to indigent members of the community in the following areas of law

o family law, evictions, wills and estates, housing, labour, domestic violence, pension & provident funds, civil suits in the small claims court, basic contracts which include lease agreements, settlement agreements, acknowledgement of debt and employment contracts

Preparation of training manuals

· ProBono.Org, Cape Town- Creating/drafting an induction office manual

o Provided tools for the interns/volunteers in respect of office administration, case management and basic consultation skills

Other key performance areas include:

· Preparing monthly statistics on cases and clients to be presented to the Regional Director.

· Source areas in which to facilitate community workshops and legal clinics.

· Create new partnerships with community workers, law firms, other NGO’s and manage existing partnerships.

· Advocate for more attorneys to join ProBono.Org’s panel of attorneys.

· Encourage more students to volunteer at ProBono.Org’s as well as encourage more to apply for internships.

Coordinate staff meetings and weekly Internal Review Meetings with interns.

• Developed strategies to resolve cases in client's best interest.
• Tracked and researched developing precedent and legislation in law to maintain expertise and best advise and advocate for clients.

• Conveyancing
• Filed timely case pleadings to meet firm deadlines.
• Administered audits to verify data involving assets, income and liabilities.
• Developed strategies to resolve cases in client's best interest.
• Tracked and researched developing precedent and legislation in law to maintain expertise and best advise and advocate for clients.

· Civil litigation, mainly Magistrate and Regional Court summons and in some instances, High Court matters.

Cases mainly involved litigation for outstanding municipal accounts.

• Provided legal advice to variety of small and mid-sized businesses involved in multiple types of litigation.
• Analyzed probable outcomes of cases using knowledge of legal precedents.
• Proposed requests for admission and requests for production of documents.
• Interviewed witnesses and gathered public record research relevant to each case.
• Worked with management and staff to resolve pre-litigation disputes.
• Minimized risk exposure through careful advice on business operations and strategic plans.
• Advocated for clients before court in oral argument by presenting facts and evidence in most favorable light.
• Resolved post-judgment litigation settlements and default judgment orders in favor of clients.

• Developed strategies to resolve cases in client's best interest.
• Administered audits to verify data involving assets, income and liabilities.
• Communicated advice about areas of divorce, maintenance, deceased estates, pension and provident fund matters, administration, wills, motor vehicle accidents, lease agreements, Road Accident Fund, labour, civil procedure as well as criminal matters.
• Offered in-house training to company personnel on relevant aspects of law.

• Helped with office tasks, taking messages, scanning documents and answering phone inquiries.
• Volunteered with groups and organizations to help make measurable differences for program recipients.
• Greeted visitors and answered questions about program, requirements and opportunities.
• Spoke with community organizations to boost outreach and highlight programs successes.
• Sent email reminders regarding upcoming volunteer events to community leaders and civic groups.
• Coordinated food, clothing and household items for disadvantaged individuals and families.
• Assisted with special events or programs.
• Freed full-time employees up for more critical work by completing clerical tasks and office work.
• Provided immediate responses to questions from volunteers.
• Developed monthly schedules and assignments for volunteer staff.
• Used strong interpersonal communication skills to convey information to others.

o Focus area: general litigation which included civil litigation, criminal litigation and labour law. I was part of the team that served as the panel attorneys for Scorpion Legal Protection and Legal Wise.

o Giving legal advice and preparing opinions on merits and providing recommendations on the action to be taken, be it settlement or litigation

o Litigation in the Magistrate's Courts.

Duties and Responsibilities as a Candidate Attorney 2013-2014

·Received training in various fields of law including civil litigation, criminal litigation and labour law.

· Learned to write fees and meet monthly fee targets.

Learned to give presentations on legal matters.

Carried out day-day-day duties accurately and efficiently.

Resolved conflicts and negotiated mutually beneficial agreements between parties.

Actively listened to customers, handled concerns quickly and escalated major issues to supervisor.