Raf Attorney: High Court X2

Road Accident Fund; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Road Accident Fund seeks an experienced attorney for High Court litigation and related services. You will handle third-party claims, provide legal opinions, and draft pleadings. The role includes policy work, mediation coordination, and tax support for the Fund.

The candidate should have a law degree, postgraduate qualification, and admission as an attorney with right of appearance in the High Court, plus 5–7 years of post-graduate experience (2 years in personal injury litigation).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Law or equivalent.
• Post-graduate in Law or equivalent.
• Admission as an Attorney of the High Court.
• Right of Appearance in the High Court.
• 5-7 years Legal Experience Post-graduation or Admission, of which 2 years in Personal Injury Litigation.

Responsibilities

• Represent the RAF on third party claims and related litigation matters.
• Attend court appearances and manage files from opening to closure.
• Draft pleadings and provide research for trials.
• Provide legal advice and research opinions for RAF matters.
• Draft, review and implement departmental policy and procedures.
• Conduct mediation steps and coordinate with parties and mediator.
• Deliver taxation services and tax planning supporting RAF operations.
• Develop regulatory reports and management information.

Skills

Resilience

Communication

People skills

Network & Alliances

Planning & Organising

Employee Engagement

Personal Mastery

Judgement & Decision Making

Ethics & Values

Client Service Orientation

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Law or equivalent

Post-graduate in Law or equivalent

Admission as an Attorney of the High Court

Right of Appearance in the High Court

5-7 years Legal Experience Post-graduation or Admission (2 years in Personal Injury Litigation)

Job description

Purpose of the Job: The RAF Attorney: High Court is responsible for all High Court matters within the Fund and to offer litigation services accordingly. This role will also be responsible to perform a range of tax services including tax bill of costs in compliance with South African laws and regulations.

Key Performance Areas

Policy review and implementation

• Contribute to the development and implementation of departmental policy, procedures and processes.
• Keep up to date with effective policy and practice execution strategies.

Preparation and research on related litigation matters

• Conduct research that will provide information in preparation for all matters for trial.
• Consult with client departments/representatives, and witnesses for instructions and documentation for cases to be presented in court.
• Draft pleadings to provide clear motivation/justification on a particular position about the case.

Mediation process

• All required steps regarding the mediation process, as governed by the amendment to the rules of court, are to be taken.
• Upon conclusion of the mediation, parties shall inform the Registrar and all other parties by a notice that Mediation is completed.
• Parties & Mediator must within 5 days of completion of mediation issue a joint minute indicating.

Represent the Road Accident Fund on all third party claims and related litigation matters

• Attend court appearances in all allocated third-party litigation matters.
• Ensure file administration from opening to the conclusion of a legal case including adherence to trial dates.
• Handle appearances at courts, tribunals, mediation hearings and inquiries.
• Approve instructions to appoint and instruct expert witnesses.

Settle non-litigious matters before they are set down for trial

• Block consultation, early assessment of files, and early instructions to experts and assessors.
• Approve requests to appoint and instruct assessors and expert witnesses.
• Recommend a settlement.

Provision of legal advice to RAF

• Provide legal advice on arising legal matters and contracts.
• Provide well-researched legal advice on matters impacting the organisation.
• Conduct legal research and prepare legal opinions.

Taxation

• Deliver a full range of tax services in compliance with laws and regulations.
• Build relationships and interact with clients to provide consulting and expertise in tax services.
• Provide innovative tax planning and review complex income tax returns.

Reporting

• Prepare and submit regulation reports as and when required to provide progress updates and/or inform management decisions.
• Develop reports/ policies/ procedures and guide the process through the alignment of the documents to the overall RAF's Strategy.
• Develop functional reporting systems, for management, projects or performance reporting.
• Prepare proposals, briefings, presentations, reports and other documentation and provide management with information both verbally and in a report format.

Stakeholder Management

• Facilitate and manage communication with relevant internal and external stakeholders in relation to invetments and proactively and progressively manage the relationships.
• Manage relationships with vendors, service providers or procurement teams and ensure that all relevant procured items are invoiced and paid on time.
• Communication with all levels of stakeholder contact.

People Management

• Ensure the sourcing, development and retention of a high-performance team.
• Manage the recruitment of the operational workforce in line with employment equity targets.
• Manage staff in the department to ensure that they achieve their objectives in line with the strategic objectives of the RAF.
• Manage the implementation of human capital processes and procedures to control/regulate workplace conflict and/or institute corrective measures and consultation processes to address deviations from standards.
• Allocate, direct, motivate and evaluate subordinates to help them achieve their individual goals.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Law or equivalent.
• Post-graduate in Law or equivalent.
• Admission as an Attorney of the High Court.
• Right of Appearance in the High Court.
• Relevant 5-7 years Legal Experience Post-graduation or Admission of which 2 years must have been on area of expertise (Personal Injury Litigation).

Competencies Required:

Behavioural

• Resilience
• Communication
• Working with People
• Network and Alliances
• Planning, Organising and Coordinating
• Employee Engagement
• Personal Mastery
• Judgement and Decision Making
• Ethics and Values
• Client Service Orientation

Managerial

• Change Management
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Conflict Management
• Critical and innovative thinking
• Direction setting
• Facilitation and Presentation Skills
• People Management
• Policy conceptualization and formulation
• Risk Management
• Programme/Project Management
• Stakeholder development and relations
• Reporting

Technical

• Legislation & regulatory knowledge
• Ethics & compliance
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Policy and standards
• Governance
• Claims litigation
• MVA law and legislation
• Negotiation
• Conflict resolution
• Problem solving and analysis
• Mediation

NB: "RAF offers Total Employment Cost Package with no additional contributions from the Employer, successful candidates are required to structure their packages in a manner that will suit their needs".