New digital briefing tool launched for advocates

Attorneys can now issue legal briefs digitally to available advocates selected according to client preference, thanks to what is being billed as a world-first innovation. The Johannesburg Society of Advocates (JSA) launched AuxBrief in Johannesburg on Saturday, with Vezi De Beer Inc issuing digital briefs from its client Standard Bank, live, to a pool of junior advocates. Legalbrief Africa reports that AuxBrief is the brainchild of Rose-Marie van den Bogert, founder of legal fintech company Auxcon. As an attorney, Van den Bogert was acutely aware of pain points in the legal workflow, including significant administrative burdens and reputational risk for attorneys when clients question fees or experience delays. Meanwhile, advocates – particularly juniors, women and historically disadvantaged members of the Bar – frequently struggle to access work fairly and to secure payment when they do. Van den Bogert therefore began developing modernised systems to address these issues 15 years ago. Step one was digitising billing and debtor management; step two was digitised briefing, which was developed in partnership with the JSA, Vezi De Beer Inc and Standard Bank.

AuxBrief aims not only to modernise briefing and billing practices, but also help junior advocates gain much-needed work, experience and visibility, notes Legalbrief Africa. It allows an attorney to upload a brief directly to the system, setting out instructions, documents, fees and timelines in advance. Selection criteria – including area of specialisation, years of experience, urgency, location, race and gender – can be set. Notifications are then issued to available advocates who meet the specified criteria. Attorneys review responses and make appointments. Unselected advocates are notified of the filled brief, while the appointed advocate can download case files immediately. Every step, from initial upload and acceptance to rate agreement and delivery milestones, is time-stamped and securely stored and accessible to both parties and progress and payments are tracked. Beyond improving efficiency for attorneys, the system gives clients cost transparency and advocates visibility, equitable access to work and improved assurance of payment in predictable timeframes. Van den Bogert said the system will also remind juniors of their court appearances and prompt them to record outcomes and issue invoices.

Among the firm’s clients is Standard Bank, which sought high-quality advocates to handle its unopposed motions. This was the ideal lower-risk starting point for engaging junior advocates. But such juniors still needed to be upskilled to produce high-quality work. The project thus accelerated after Van den Bogert met Advocate Tiny Seboko SC chair of the JSA’s Transformation, Briefing Patterns and Pro Bono Committee, in November 2024. The JSA targeted junior advocates with zero to seven years’ experience to participate in the programme due to the tendency for high attrition rates. To ensure the quality of candidates for the programme, the JSA launched ‘Tiny’s Workshops’ in February, with Vezi De Beer, Auxcon and Standard Bank contributing to the training of 84 junior JSA members. Senior members of the Bar also participated, including then-acting Constitutional Court Judge Opperman, now an SCA judge. Seboko said the JSA intends to make the programme modular and several Bars around the country are interested in replicating it. Discussions are already under way with the Cape Bar to replicate the training model. During a panel discussion at the event, Judge Roland Sutherland, retiring Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng High Court, remarked that the Gauteng Bar has often been a trendsetter nationally, adding that the Bench looked forward to exploring ways to leverage the system to enhance judicial efficiency. Advocate Mahlape Sello SC, chairperson of the JSA, added that the launch marks a turning point for the legal fraternity and for justice in SA.

With payment delays between advocates and attorneys often ending in legal tussles and continuing to cause friction and erode trust within the local fraternity, senior law professionals are calling for proactive solutions from within – before the state and regulators intervene. At the launch of the AuxBrief platform, panellists discussed the effects of payment delays, which extend beyond crippled professional relationships to threaten the sustainability of many advocates’ practices, particularly those of junior, female and previously disadvantaged counsel, reports LegalBrief Africa. Seboko revealed that government and state entities remain the worst culprits in delayed payments. Advocate Myron Dewrance SC, national chair of Advocates for Transformation, said: ‘The profession must take a stand and hold government accountable.' He attributed the issue to ‘corruption, negligence and system inefficiency’. These failures, he said, lead directly to attrition at the Bar, particularly among black and female counsel. Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC, chair of the JSA Professional and Fees Committee, pointed to poor communication between attorneys and advocates as another common cause of tension. He explained that attorneys often fail to take sufficient cover or agree on counsel’s rates upfront; some advocates overreach, with fees not always reflecting the complexity or time spent. Khumalo proposed a more transparent, time-stamped system.

Advocate Mahlape Sello SC, chair of the JSA, warned that the ratio of lawyers to SA’s population remains ‘horrendously’ insufficient. The slow pace of development among junior members further threatens the sustainability of the profession. Junior Advocate Mbali Nchabeleng called for transformation to ensure fairness in briefing patterns and to broaden briefs to niches like tax and competition law, and level out the playing field. Recalling her own struggles as a young mother, Advocate Mercedes Mokadikoa-Chauke SC, chair of Transformation at the General Council of the Bar, said it was challenging balancing maternity leave with levies amid unpredictable income. Even senior counsel, she noted, are affected by late payments. Khumalo agreed: ‘Advocates must still provide for their families while paying Bar fees, LPC and Saflii levies and chambers costs, whether or not they’re being paid.’ Advocate Greta Engelbrecht SC, member of the Legal Practice Council warned that the profession must take responsibility for itself to avoid state intervention. ‘We need systems like (AuxBrief) that enable connection, certainty, clarity and predictability so we are moving the profession forward’ so it doesn't come from regulation and state intervention.’ Elani van der Laan, head: legal and accounting at Standard Bank, added that many practices fail within the first two years due to limited business guidance and support. Mustafa Mohamed, director at Vezi & De Beer Inc, agreed, saying junior advocates, among them ‘great legal minds’, often get caught up in their work and forget to invoice. Seboko added that the 97-day rule for attorney payment to counsel now being reduced to 30 days, effective 1 November 2025, will alleviate much of the pain points, reports Legalbrief Africa.