The Legal Practice Council concerned with barriers to the legal profession
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) has noted with concern that it is now becoming a trend that some law firms are making a driver’s license and or ownership of a motor vehicle as one of the key requirements for graduates to be considered for practical vocational training (PVT) contracts. A driver’s license and or ownership of a motor vehicle is and cannot be an inherent requirement for attaining a PVT contract.
“As the LPC, we will be investigating this matter internally through our Transformation Committee and then make an official pronouncement in due course. The LPC views this practice as one of the barriers to access to the profession when one of our core responsibilities is the transformation of the legal profession. The requirement of a drivers’ license or motor vehicle for the purposes of PVT is unfair and discriminatory as it affects many graduates who are from poor backgrounds, mostly black and female’’ said Ms. Kathleen Matolo -Dlepu,
Chairperson of the Legal Practice Council