How To Become A Real Estate Lawyer In South Africa

A real estate attorney is someone who is licensed to practice real estate law, meaning they have the knowledge and experience to advise parties involved in a real estate transaction, such as a home sale.

What Does A Real Estate Attorney Do?

Real estate attorneys know how to and are legally authorized to prepare and review documents and contracts related to the sale and purchase of a home. In some cases, a real estate attorney is also the person who’ll be in charge of your closing.

When Do I Need A Real Estate Attorney?

Depending on your state and locality’s laws and the exact nature of the transaction, you may need to enlist the services of a real estate attorney (and have the cost included in your closing costs), whether you like it or not.

How Much Does A Real Estate Attorney Cost?

How much you’ll spend paying your real estate attorney (or attorneys) will depend on what services they’ve provided for you and who is responsible for that particular closing cost.

If your mortgage lender requires an attorney to be present at closing, whether the buyer or seller covers the cost of the closing attorney will depend on how your contract was negotiated.

Below are Skills for a real estate lawyer

Real estate lawyers need soft skills that they have naturally and hard skills, such as legal concepts and terminology, that they gain during their education. Skills real estate lawyers commonly need to be successful in their careers include:

Communication skills: Real estate lawyers need good verbal communication skills to form working relationships with clients, explain unfamiliar legal concepts and make their cases in court. They also need strong written communication skills when creating legal documents, contracts and memos.

Negotiation: These legal professionals spend a significant amount of time negotiating with clients and should have the skills to find resolutions all parties agree to.

Below is How To Become A Real Estate Lawyer In South Africa

1. Earn a bachelor’s degree

Complete a four-year undergraduate degree to prepare to apply for law school. Real estate lawyers commonly major in legal studies but can earn nearly any degree, including business or economics.

2. Pass the LSAT

After earning your bachelor’s degree, you need to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). The LSAT is an examination that tests your critical and analytical abilities. Passing this examination is required to apply to American Bar Association-approved law schools.

3. Attend law school

Once you gain admission to law school, you spend the next three to four years studying for a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree that allows you to practice law in the United States. In your last year or two of study, you can specialize in a specific area of law. This is when you can choose to study for a career as a real estate lawyer. While studying for your J.D. you need to:

Complete 90 credit hours and earn a grade point average of 2.0

Complete all your courses

Fulfill the in-residence requirement

Meet the writing intensive course requirements

Fulfill the experiential course requirements

4. Take the bar exam

After you graduate from law school, you need to pass the bar exam to get the attorney’s license required to practice law in the U.S. You should take the bar examination in the state you plan to work in. Bar exam formats vary by state but typically last six hours and include multiple-choice and essay questions.

What degree do you need to be a real estate attorney In South Africa?

A real estate lawyer must obtain a juris doctorate degree from a school accredited by the American Bar Association along with an attorney’s license through passing the bar exam. Some law schools may provide the option of specializing one’s studies around real estate law.

Can an attorney be an estate agent in South Africa?

Attorneys have been selling properties from times immemorial and are, arguably, the oldest formal estate agents in South Africa. As such, an attorney can perform both the role of estate agent and conveyancer.

How many years does it take to become a lawyer in South Africa?

The standard requirement before one can practice as a lawyer is completing an LLB degree which takes 4 years. Alternatively, some students choose to first study a BCom or BA which takes 3 years and then study another 2 years to complete their LLB.

What qualifications do I need to be a lawyer in South Africa?

The Qualification of Legal Practitioners Amendment Act of 1997 confirms that an LLB Law Degree is required to practice law in South Africa. The degree is required to be achieved from an accredited South African law school in South Africa which could be one of the leading Universities in South Africa and/or a college.

What type of lawyer gets paid the most in South Africa?

Top earners include General Counsel (GC) and partners, both of which can expect to take home R5 million a year at the high-end of market. At the other end of the scale, candidate attorneys can expect to earn between R250,000 and R300,000 a year at top law firms.

Is there a demand for lawyers in South Africa?

Lawyers that are in the litigation sector are known to always be in high demand in South Africa. Therefore, lawyers that are experienced in areas like complex civil litigation, commercial litigation, insurance defense, labor and employment, and other related niches are always in high demand in the country.