GROUP ONE PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE PRESENTS LSC 101:
On 13 March 2025, Group One hosted an information session on the Legal Sector Code (LSC) in the Bailey moderated by our member Kameshni Pillay SC with guest speakers Ms Christine Qunta (Chairperson of the LPC LSC Steering Committee), Ms Kathleen Matolo-Dlepu (former Chairperson of the LPC) and our very own Chris Loxton SC (former member of the LPC LSC Steering Committee) to unpack the LSC with a specific focus on its impact on counsel. This is an initiative of the Group One Practice Development Committee.
The LSC is a code promulgated and published in terms of section 9(1) of the BBBEE Act No 53 of 2003. It came into effect on 20 September 2024. As detailed in the LSC, it is not a transformation charter but is rather a Code with the purpose of, inter alia, providing a policy framework for the meaningful, sustainable transformation and growth of the legal sector in South Africa.
Whilst both attorneys and advocates are graded on a point system for purposes of being ranked under the LSC, different criteria apply to each branch of the legal profession. An advocate that is not a Black advocate intending to obtain work from compliant attorneys in terms of the LSC, the State Attorney or from State entities, would be encouraged to participate in the LSC to be graded and to obtain or retain such work. Where an advocate elects not to participate under the LSC, they would still be eligible to obtain and retain work from private sector entities that are measured in terms of a different industry sector code and legal practitioners not enrolled and registered as practicing legal practitioners under the Legal Practice Act.
