Legalese is Hiring!

We’re looking to hire a full-time commercial lawyer to join our Cape Town team. A solid lawyer who’s sick of the atmosphere of a traditional firm and who personifies our value of ‘smart casual’.

Our dream candidate is an ambitious and smart lawyer who takes initiative and doesn’t require a huge amount of management. We’re looking for someone who's lovely to be around, loves small businesses and has a passion for helping clients succeed. We’re looking for someone who doesn’t just want a job but wants to have conviction in their work and contribute towards building something great that they’re proud of.

On the Legalese team, we value work/life balance - we like to work hard during the day and try to kick off early for a run or a swim before dinner. We like being lawyers, but we especially love being human. We read up about the industries we work in, we enjoy free concert tickets, and we don’t bring boiled eggs to the office.

If we like each other, you’ll have the opportunity to work directly with inspiring clients, diversify your skill set and meaningfully contribute to this ever-evolving business.

Who are we?

Legalese is a creative legal agency that has redesigned legal services to suit creative, start-up, and tech-based businesses by making them accessible, affordable, and understandable. Our mission is to contribute to the growth of the South African economy by helping all businesses to grow legally and safely.

Who are you?

You are a commercial lawyer with experience in drafting contracts. You’ve drafted all the usual ones – from employment agreements to service level agreements and even shareholders agreements – but you especially love it when a client just explains to you what they need, and you get to draft from scratch without a template. Drafting is a puzzle, and you love to solve it and make sure it’s perfect!

You enjoy intellectual property law and have an interest in entertainment, creative industry, or something else out of the usual mould. You see yourself as a creative, just one that uses contracts as their expression as opposed to paint. You’re looking for a place to work that understands why that’s cool!

You have a decent grasp on the Companies Act and understand the basics of a few different areas of law which you merge in your practice. You love dealing with clients and the best part of your job is taking a complex issue presented to you by a client and getting to work on solving it – drawing from all your experience and resources in the process.

You’re looking for a place to practice as a lawyer but without needing to litigate, collect debts, or even go to court.

Also:

• an admitted attorney;
• 2+ years of post-articles commercial experience. We regard commercial law experience as having worked with contracts or structuring transactions, or in the commercial department of a law firm or legal service provider;
• understanding of regulatory framework for small and growing businesses in SA – Companies Act, Consumer Protection Act, Labour Relations Act, the Income Tax Act, National Credit Act etc;
• competent at drafting contracts and a keen eye for detail;
• competent at legal research;
• competent writer - legal memos, terms and conditions, opinions and blog articles on relevant legal topics;
• an interest in client relations; and
• technology and computer-literate.

How do you apply?

Head over here and complete the application form.

A few things you can prepare in advance:

• your CV, highlighting the job requirements and including at least two past employment references;
• a cover letter so we can get a sense of the applicant relative to our strong company culture, including the position in the subject line and your residential address; and
• if you want to supercharge your application and stand out from the crowd, leave a 3-minute video of yourself explaining why you are fit for the role, and for Legalese.