Pretoria - The legal practice landscape has changed forever with the Virtual Advocates Chambers, which went live in the country this week – all thanks to three innovative women.
About 14 months ago during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ronelle Ferguson, an advocate since 1999, realised that being forced to practise remotely during the first hard lockdown and being able to do so, presented an alternative to the traditional manner of operating advocates’ chambers.
She brainstormed with Bongiwe Dube, her long-standing personal assistant and practice manager, and Rene Janse van Rensburg, a marketing and brand manager.
Together, these women turned decades of old-style advocacy practice on its head with a completely online alternative – Virtual Chambers.
“It’s the new dawn of advocacy. To retain the decorum, camaraderie and sharing of experience and development without the physical and financial burdens of the past has proven a journey beyond contemplation, but it’s done,” Ferguson said.
This new era in advocacy aims to retain the same “culture, decorum, camaraderie and experience” of traditional advocates’ chambers, wherever you practise from.
These chambers set the bar high for convenience, and the barrier low for entry, by offering a financially affordable alternative to the costly and physically restrictive physical chambers of the past, Ferguson said.
In what’s being described as a giant leap for legal practice, Virtual Chambers has leveraged a top South African full-stack web and mobile development agency to create an innovative solution.
Virtual Chambers is a fully integrated online advocates chambers with common rooms, conference rooms, lecture rooms and access to court rolls. It includes an exclusive members’ area with notice boards, industry news and a live feed to the Supreme Court of Appeal and Concourt.
All this, while it’s “knock-knock” facility affords the opportunity to tap-in on colleagues’ knowledge and experience, despite the isolation most of the world currently faces.
“We had no examples to follow and months of searching the internet made it clear that we were going to have to go at this from scratch.
“Publications from abroad still reflect a keen interest in the possibility of virtual chambers, and here we are already – done and dusted,” Ferguson said.
Physical chambers proved to be an inaccessible environment for many in the past – with floor rental, group fees and shared costs for services making it almost financially impossible for young advocates to share in the real advocates chambers environment Virtual Chambers has changed all of this.
“This geographically unlimited legal modernisation is set to be a life raft for young advocates,” she said. “The pandemic has limited their access to court, and hindered their opportunity to learn from their colleagues, something the Virtual Chambers’ founders hope to rectify.”
Ferguson said the goal is to re-create and re-invent that opportunity, and the Legal Practice Counsel plays a major part in this revolution.
The founders envisage that their members will soon play a notable role in collaborating to add value in training and development as they make the advocates’ chambers opportunity more accessible.
They believe Virtual Chambers is about integrating the knowledge and experience of respected established colleagues with the next generation of advocates.
This virtual reality is said to be the future, where advocates can experience life at chambers as in the past – but this time only a click away from home.
Virtual Chambers not only affords the legal fraternity an opportunity to brainstorm, train and stay abreast of the latest legal developments, but as before, colleagues can virtually meet for morning coffee, for a lunch time chat or for afternoon tea.
There is even the end-of-the week virtual pub, just a click away, where colleagues can share their week’s trials and tribulations.
Pretoria News