Practical Application of Law

20 October 2020 10:00 by Advocate Ismail Hussain SC.

The impact of Covid-19 has been hard felt by the legal industry. Most attorneys are going to have to diversify and offer clients a lot more variety if they are to remain sustainable in the future. This opens the discussion on how easy it is to diversify to other areas of law outside of their specialty. LexisNexis is looking at partnering with two industry experts, namely Adv I Hussain and Adv Nick Tee, to host a series of webinars aimed at empowering sole practitioners, junior attorneys, candidate attorneys and those looking at expanding their knowledge to other areas. The start of this series will look at Civil Procedure, a body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). In a practical segmented way, the legal practitioners will be taken through practical steps on how to run a civil case from Litigation to Trial whilst also applying modern electronic techniques to save time and money without compromising client interest.

Webinar Series Objectives:

  • Offer expert opinion on how one can effectively manage a civil procedure process.
  • Provide practical guidelines for attorneys to practice more efficiently by saving time and money.
  • Create awareness of LexisNexis products suited for legal professionals which should ultimately drive sales and revenue.
  • Start driving discussions in the industry which show that law doesn’t need to be complicated.

Discussed Series:

Session 1: Commencing litigation – 20 October

From the starting processes of Civil Procedure, the session will provide guidelines on the basics of litigation and map out what to do in order to resolve a dispute quickly and cheaply.

Session will cover:

  • Obtaining the facts
  • Carrying out a fact analysis
  • Working out a course of action
  • Deciding whether it should be a motion/ action or mediation
Session 2: Motion Procedure - Drafting Documents – 27 October

Covers unopposed motions which the practitioner should be able to do on their own without relying on precedents.

Session will cover:

  • Drafting documents, notices of motion
  • 3 sets of affidavits
  • How to prepare draft orders
Session 3: Motion Procedure - Unopposed Motion – 04 November

There are often inconsistencies that come with filing for unopposed motion. At high court you are expected to draft 3 copies of drafts before getting the motion filed. Often attorneys use drafts from precedents which are usually wrong, so the judge ends up with 3 copies of drafts which have nothing to do with the case.

Session will cover:

  • Practical steps on drafting an unopposed motion
Session 4: Trial Preparation and Trial – 10 November

Insolvency applications, applications around family law. Spoliation orders and search and seizure orders.

Session will cover:

  • Templates to be used for pre-trial and trial applications

Product Focus

  • Practical Guidance: Civil Procedure - Forms and precedents already exist, these can be used in the duration of the webinar series to highlight the features of having such a tool used in day-to-day legal practice.