Integrating the legal profession in South Africa

From News24:

Johannesburg - The legal-services sector, one of the last bastions of white male dominance in South Africa, is in for a major overhaul.

The envisaged transformation, set out in a draft legal-services charter published by the department of justice and constitutional development, comprises several strategies to bring about racial and gender equality in law firms and other institutions providing legal services.

Dealing with the needs of "the majority of South Africans who cannot afford legal services", the charter also proposes a number of strategies to improve their "access to justice".

It proposes the development of a proper pro bono (for the public good) system, requiring lawyers and advocates to undertake legal work voluntarily and without payment as a public service.

I could sound all superior and say that my country's legal profession is sooooo much more progressive, but the truth is that the ABA did its best to keep American lawyers white, male, and non-immigrant well into the mid-twentieth century. It even tried to shut down night law schools that were not affiliated with universities, because God forbid working class folks study to be lawyers in their off-hours. Most of those schools didn't survive, and those that did (like my own beloved school) got affiliated with larger institutions right quick. We are NOT the American aristocracy some legal scholars thought we should be.

I love the idea of mandatory pro bono work! In the ABA rules, it's recommended that we put in 50 hours of pro bono work a year. It's an aspirational rule, impossible to violate. As a result, lots of lawyers don't do a damn thing for clients who don't pay. God, I'd love to regulate the hell out of my colleagues. :)