Over the last decade law firms have had to adjust in terms of the way they deliver services to their clients and court processes. Technology is key to a modern-day law firm and Thomson Wilks is proud to be at the forefront of the ever-changing environment. Our adaptability is why we are able to continue to deliver efficient and professional services to our clients during the current turbulence created by the lock down necessitated by the rapid spread of COVID-19. Our aim remains to deliver professional and efficient, yet affordable legal assistance to our clients.
Thomson Wilks is a unique law firm where our ethos and business structure was considered and tested long before the COVID-19 pandemic. This was because we understood the changing landscape within which law firms operate and in striving to improve our service delivery and efficiency. As a result, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, our approach to the industry ensures that we are able to continue delivering proficient services, with little to no change to our approach and certainly without compromising on service delivery to our clients. Our systems and our structure in which all of our professional and administrative staff are set up to work remotely from our offices have been created and honed over years of, dedication, hard work and a total commitment to adapt our approach to an ever changing world in which we always expect the unexpected. Our systems and structure, ensures, no matter what the circumstances, that our attorneys are able, better than most, to continue to offer our exceptional services, in the four major high court jurisdictions in South Africa as well as in Dubai and Mauritius. Because we have a national footprint we are able to engage in matters, generally in the four major High Court jurisdictions without the need to engage correspondent attorneys at unnecessary additional cost to the client Our international footprint, allows us to engage with all our foreign business partners and to offer advice in foreign jurisdictions,. Our staff on the ground in each jurisdiction are familiar with the nuances of each court and this allows us to deliver results to our clients in times of need.
We are registered with the new online court system Caselines which has been implemented in both the Pretoria and Johannesburg High Courts, where we can issue summonses and deliver all court documents electronically. We were already making use of this system before lock down was implemented , and as such, for Thomson Wilks, it remains business as usual where this is possible.
The question that is top of mind for everyone is how we deal with the loss of face to face meetings without losing our personal touch. At Thomson Wilks, where we strive to remain at the forefront of technology and to provide our services as conveniently and expediently as possible to clients we have, for some time already, made use of video conferencing and online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams to consult with clients locally, nationally and internationally. Through the use of video conferencing facilities, we are able to consult, mediate and arbitrate matters. Our labour attorneys are also able to run a disciplinary hearing or retrenchment process using this method.
We get results!
Despite the lockdown (and no doubt the significant changes to business which we are all going to have to adapt to) our attorneys are all able to work with support and administrative staff, attend to emails and court processes and other necessities. They are all able to access our online library, which allows for them to provide accurate and sound legal opinions. The firm also meets online regularly in order to debate legal issues so that any unusual topic or unique issue is tested and debated, with a view that the opinion or advice offered has been through the rigours of a robust discussion which ensures that our clients are given the best advice possible. The agility of the Thomson Wilks model has allowed us to quickly move all support staff onto the remote platform and again, it is business as usual for Thomson Wilks.
The multiple offices and remote working culture allows Thomson Wilks to, seamlessly, have attorneys in different places collaborate on any matter. This applies to our litigation, commercial and contract offering, conveyancing and other areas of law where clients require our skills.
We at Thomson Wilks have long anticipated that the way we do business would change and move towards a remote model, with online collaborations and service delivery being the order of the day. We have adapted to the current lock down environment quickly and with ease.
Thomson Wilks is able to assist with any issue our clients may have. We are able to address the particular challenges that the lockdown has caused as well as ongoing and urgent matters that may arise. We encourage clients to choose an attorney from our extensive network which suits their particular needs, as opposed to being allocated the first available attorney. All our attorneys are listed on our www.thomsonwilks.co.za website and are available to support and advise you in these unusual times.
