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What is CLASA?
The Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (formerly known as the Association of Legal Advisers of South Africa – ALASA) was formed in 1982:
to promote the common interests of corporate lawyers in South Africa;
- to improve and promote the proficiency and competency as corporate lawyers of its members and to encourage professional and ethical conduct amongst its members;
- to provide a forum for the exchange of views and mutual liaison on matters of common interest to corporate lawyers in South Africa;
- to effect liaison with such representative national and international organisations as may be desirable in the interest of its members;
- to consider and, where necessary, deal with and make representations concerning the teaching and practice of law and the administration of justice in general;
- to deal in general with all matters concerning the Association or any of its members.
What are corporate lawyers?
The term “corporate lawyers” is used to describe people employed by companies and other organisations to provide legal advice and services to their employers. In other words, “in-house” legal advisers or “corporate counsel” as they are known in the USA, as compared with attorneys and advocates who provide their services to the public at large rather than to a single employer. Most corporate lawyers are in fact former attorneys or advocates who have chosen the corporate environment rather than the traditional legal profession.
The concept of in-house lawyers has gained popularity throughout the world. There has been a similar trend here and there are a large number of corporate lawyers in South Africa employed in both the private and public sectors.
Why employ corporate lawyers?
The main advantages of employing in-house lawyers rather than only using outside lawyers are:
- cost-savings (many legal matters can be handled in-house at a fraction of the cost of hiring outside lawyers);
- greater familiarity with the organisation (being on the spot, the corporate lawyer can get acquainted with every facet of the organisation);
- accessibility (the corporate lawyer has no clients other than the employer – so it should be a lot easier to get an appointment);
- greater accountability (again, this flows from the fact that the employer is the corporate lawyer’s only client);
- enhanced proactivity (as part of the management team, the corporate lawyer is in a better position to practise anticipatory law and to assist in identifying opportunities and preventing problems);
- additional services (the corporate lawyer can attend to legal and quasi-legal matters which would not otherwise have been referred to a lawyer and can provide extra services such as educating executives and staff on relevant legal developments);
- improved utilisation of outside lawyers (in matters which have to be referred to outside lawyers, the corporate lawyer can still be of assistance in selecting, instructing, liaising with, and monitoring the work and charges of, the outside lawyers);
- additional executive resources (the corporate lawyer’s training and his familiarity with the organisation give him special skills and knowledge which can be valuable in non-legal functions such as executive decision-making and general management)