Graduates
Here at Ric Martin Incorporated we believe that your practical vocational training sets the tone for the rest of your career as a legal practitioner, choosing the right firm from which to launch your career has the ability to either make our break your passion for the practice of law. Why then, should you choose Ric Martin Incorporated?
Life at Ric Martin Incorporated
At RMI we make it our mission to help our candidate attorneys to find the niche area which they are passionate about and to help them develop and hone the skills necessary to become exceptional legal practitioners within that field. During your two years of vocational training you will work closely with the directors of the firm and obtain hands on experience across varies areas of law whilst having the opportunity to assist clients from various listed companies. What sets us apart from other law firms is the manner in which we expose our candidate attorneys to the day-to-day life of a legal practitioner.
At Ric Martin Incorporated we also do not strictly impose hierarchies and we thus create a platform for engagement where we encourage each and every member to share their views and opinions.
Training
From day one our candidate attorneys have the opportunity to accompany our senior attorneys whilst attending consultations with clients and counsel, as well pre-trials and court appearances. We expect from our candidates to have exceptional critical thinking and writing skills, they will therefore be exposed to drafting of pleadings and opinions to clients from an early stage under the guidance and supervision of our senior attorneys.
During your first month of your practical vocational training you will have training sessions specifically designed to bridge the gap between the theoretical knowledge our candidates gained during the process of obtaining their degree; and the practical knowledge needed in practice. We also provide our candidates with a Candidate Attorney Training Manual which, although giving an overview of what is expected, we also encourage our candidates to make their manuals’ their own; thus, adding bits and pieces knowledge along the way which they in turn can impart on their colleagues.
The transition from being a student to being a working professional can be quite an adjustment, therefore, having a support structure during this time is highly important. To that end, first year candidate attorneys are paired with second year candidate attorneys to help them during this transition period. This is beneficial to both parties as first years may find second years more approachable and will therefore be more open and comfortable to learning from them, on the other hand this gives second years the opportunity to solidify their understanding of certain key aspects of our practice by assisting in the training of others – after all “The best way to learn is to teach”.
What we look for in a candidate
When vetting candidates for a candidate attorney position we look for self-motivated individuals who have the necessary critical thinking skills necessary to work independently and who are able to adapt quickly to any environment, under the supervision of their principal.
While an individual’s academic performance during the completion of their degrees is one factor which we use to vet our candidates, we find academics is not always a true reflection of a candidate’s potential. Strong verbal communication skills as well as strong writing skills are of utmost importance to us as we opinion writing and consultations with clients is part of our day to day routine.
Vacation Work
At Ric Martin Incorporated we very seldom offer work shadowing, instead once a year we provide 3rd and 4th year LLB students with the opportunity to do vacation work at our firm. We believe that this experience provides students with a more holistic picture of what they can expect from practice.
Vacation students can expect to have a similar experience to that of our candidate attorneys, however, on a much smaller scale. Vacation students are divided into smaller “firms” which compete against each other to complete certain tasks such as opinion writing, research and drafting of pleadings. Furthermore, students will participate in a moot court against their apposing “firm”, the facts on which the moot courts are based are usually similar to the facts of one of our pending matters.
