Mail & Guardian Reporter
THE Johannesburg Bar enjoyed another round=20 of debate this week over its controversial=20 northern suburbs consultation rooms, with=20 increasing signs that those in favour of=20 the suburban set-up want full-time chambers=20 there.
The rooms in Sandton are the headquarters=20 of the newly formed Arbitration Foundation=20 of Southern Africa. There are also=20 consultation rooms for advocates’ clients=20 unwilling to brave the city centre. Some=20 feel this is merely the begininning of a=20 migration by wealthier advocates to Sandton=20 which could undermine the Bar’s collegiate=20 spirit.
Chairman of the Bar Council, advocate=20 Johann Gautschi, SC, said it was “holding=20 discussions with its members as part of its=20 strategic planning …” The Arbitration=20 Foundation had been an “enormous success”,=20 and some advocates who were happy with the=20 move were now keen to set up in Sandton=20 permanently.
Some groups of advocates have invested=20 heavily in plush consulting rooms, while=20 others have been more cautious. Some=20 individuals argue that an expansion funded=20 by Bar Council cash could mean junior=20 advocates end up subsidising their=20 wealthier, more senior colleagues who are=20 anxious to be closer to their corporate=20 clients.=20
* Lord Justice Woolf, Britain’s master of=20 the rolls, this week named Constitutional=20 Court president Arthur Chaskalson as his=20 “Moses” in the legal profession.=20 Interviewed on BBC radio, he said he=20 greatly admired Chaskalson’s decision to=20 abandon a lucrative private legal practice=20 and start the Legal Resources Centre.