The types of lawyers in South Africa and their salaries depend on the demands of the society. Just like every other profession, lawyers get their pay from people who need their services. Therefore, the kind of lawyers who get the most money are those whose services are needed most.

From corporate lawyers to those specializing in intellectual property, South Africa has a robust legal system, and a society where average citizens have the awareness to take legal action to defend their rights. This is good for business; it means that lawyers can make good money on a regular basis.

Whatever the type of lawyer, there is at least some demand in south Africa, but in every activity, there has to be a leaderboard.

Types Of Lawyers In South Africa

The types of lawyers in South Africa and their salaries depend on the demands of the society. Just like every other profession, lawyers get their pay from people who need their services. Therefore, the kind of lawyers who get the most money are those whose services are needed most.

From corporate lawyers to those specializing in intellectual property, South Africa has a robust legal system, and a society where average citizens have the awareness to take legal action to defend their rights. This is good for business; it means that lawyers can make good money on a regular basis.

Whatever the type of lawyer, there is at least some demand in south Africa, but in every activity, there has to be a leaderboard.

Types Of Lawyers In South Africa (In Demand) And Salaries

Law is a diverse field, and as long as there are conflicting interests in any activity, there is bound to be a need for lawyers. Looking at the south African society as it stands presently, the following are the most lucrative areas of specialization for lawyers.

    Medical Lawyers

The medical line is one of saving lives. Medical lawyers focus on legal issues related to healthcare, such as patient rights, and medical malpractice. When patients have their rights infringed upon, or when doctors fail to do the right thing, it can have seriously damaging consequences for those involved.

People will mostly not spare any expense in seeking redress; this is because their lives may be at stake.

This is where the lawyers come in; the legal counsel they provide can be worth more than any amount of money.

Depending on their experience and how good they are, Medical lawyers can rank among the richest lawyers in the country. They usually earn between R25,000 and R100,000 per month, but some earn a lot more.

    Intellectual Property Lawyers

Intellectual Property Lawyers are very important; they help keep artists, creatives, and businesses from trampling on each other’s rights. They specialize in intellectual property rights; such as trademarks, patents, copyrights (books, songs, logos).

In most cases they work with individuals, or businesses, and defend them in court when other (usually bigger and richer parties) want to steal their works and ideas.

Taking the matter to court can result in huge settlements for their clients, meaning that they too can earn huge amounts as their legal fees. Intellectual property lawyers can also earn huge amounts for consultations and retainership agreements. Sometimes, creatives and businesses can hire them for the long term which also means a steady inflow of money.

Although the average Intellectual Property Lawyer may earn anywhere between R35,000 to R70,000 per month, some may earn a lot more, especially if they are well experienced, and have built a solid reputation over the years.

    Corporate Lawyers

Corporate lawyers are among the most important of lawyers; they handle business-related matters, especially between different legal entities. Sometimes, they can be issues pertaining to purchases, contracts, mergers, acquisitions, and compliance with regulations.

These kinds of legal matters may be between businesses and individuals, or between companies and individuals. The real money comes in cases between companies and other companies, where they sue each other for hundreds of millions of Rands.

Corporate Lawyers may make around R30,000 to R80,000 monthly, but those working for big firms, or those who have established themselves as lawyers of high reputations can earn much higher salaries.

    Environmental Lawyers

Environmental lawyers are relevant today because many greedy persons, businesses, and companies pay no heed to laws that are made to protect the environment.

Sometimes, the Environmental Lawyers can be hired by the corporates themselves so as to defend them from accusations of damaging the environment, while on other occasions they may be hired by the government, or by NGOs working to protect the environment.

Cases of environmental destruction often involve large amounts of money; this is often for two reasons.

  1. It is often necessary to pay some form of compensation to the local populations in an area when it is proven that a corporation’s actions may be detrimental to their health or livelihoods.
  2. It is often practical to impose heavy fines on offending corporations to serve as a deterrent to other corporate organizations – to prevent them from destroying the environment.

Therefore, Environmental Lawyers can earn huge sums of money. While the small guys can earn around R25,000 and R50,000 per month, the more established people in the business can earn 3 or 4 times that amount every month.

   Criminal lawyers

They defend people or organizations accused of crimes. They may not be the most respected or adored people in the legal profession, especially because they may sometimes defend persons or corporate entities who are believed to be guilty of the crimes for which they are accused.

Nevertheless, these lawyers make enough money not to care what people think. This is because criminal cases often come with huge fines or prison sentences which the clients are trying to avoid. In order to do so, they are willing to pay huge legal fees.

Most criminal lawyers typically earn between R20,000 and R50,000 per month. However, those with solid reputations generally earn far above the average. In most cases they work for big law firms, but those with big reputations can have their own practices and earn far above the average.

    Labour Lawyers

Labour lawyers are not too far away from corporate lawyers because they usually work in the corporate environment.

Most times they are those who deal with employment issues, such as unfair dismissal and workplace discrimination.

Labour lawyers may be hired by individuals, or by unions of workers to help defend their rights against big corporate bullies who think their money puts them above the law.

The individuals and unions are usually willing to pay high premiums because they cannot afford to lose the cases as it will mean loss of income. Furthermore, they can get awarded large sums by the courts.

Labour Lawyers therefore easily make between R25,000 and R50,000 per month, but they can earn more if they work for large companies or unions.

    Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury lawyers are specialists in a different type of situation. Those that involve disputes of personal injury. They represent the clients injured by someone else’s negligence.

In today’s society where everyone is in a hurry, and people scarcely take proper precautions, it is not uncommon to see accidents involving the use of machinery, vehicles, or others things that might injure other people.

These lawyers help their clients obtain settlements in the court, meaning that their clients are willing to pay them well.

They typically earn anywhere from R25,000 to R55,000 monthly.

    Family Lawyers

Family lawyers handle are specialists in legal issues related to family. They usually handle matters like divorce and child custody.

These are among the richest lawyers around the world because family matters can be surprisingly complicated. In many cases there is usually a lot of slander owing to the bad blood and feelings of betrayal.

In many cases there is also a lot of money involved; this is because the court may demand that all the money and properties be shared equally between aggrieved parties. Furthermore, the cases can mean that one party gets alimony payments, as well as other financial benefits.

While basic family lawyers can earn between R20,000 and R45,000 monthly, those with the reputation and skill to attract wealthy clients like sportsmen, businesspeople, and celebrities can make whooping amounts of money every month.

Estate Planning Lawyers

These are the set of lawyers that helps in wills and trusts. They help clients execute their wills and share their wealth among their families and loved ones in the way that the clients wanted it done while they were still alive.

They also help clients set up family trust funds to provide for the financial needs of the families after the passing of the clients.

These lawyers may a lot of money because they mostly work for rich clients. They attract lump sums as fees, and get to socialize with the wealthiest in society.

They may typically make around R50,000 per month, but they make a lot more than that when they have the reputation to enable it.

Other Emerging Legal Specializations

Technology Lawyers

South Africa is becoming more important as a hub for the development of new technology; and this opens up a new field for lawyers to benefit from. Lawyers can defend individuals, startups, and companies who believe that their technology, (including designs and processes) may have been stolen.

These kinds of cases come with a lot of money because the technology involved can have significant economic importance.

Health Management Lawyers

Health management organizations are becoming more popular throughout the country, and that opens up an opportunity for Lawyers. This is because things do not always go as planned, and there can be issues arising.

Medical and health issues are often a matter of life and death, and even a simple misdiagnosis can result in serious emotional distress. Therefore, this type of law specialty will bring in a lot of money in the future, as more people sign up to Health Management Organizations.

Social Security Disability Lawyers

The social security disability system is a very complex system to easily be comprehended by an average individual. Hence, in order to successfully navigate through the system, it is important to consult with an attorney that specializes in social security disability. Some of the likely issues they might help you with include eligibility issues, launching an appeal of a decision to deprive you of your benefits, or sorting out the reduction or termination of your benefits.

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Summary

Law is a very lucrative field, and while statistics can present a list of the types of lawyers in South Africa according to their salaries, the real list comes with skill and reputation. No matter what area of law you choose to specialize in, your earning potential comes with how good you are, your track record, and the type of clients you can attract.