Behind the scenes – who are we and what is our vision?
SA Legal Advice was co-founded by Lauren Kohn with the aim of making legal services more accessible, expedient and cost-effective for members of the South African public.
“Knowledge is empowering and given that the law affects us as citizens in the conduct of our daily lives, knowledge of the law is vital. Yet for most people, the law is complex and inaccessible and resource constraints pose a serious obstacle to decent legal services. With these impediments in mind, my partner and I teamed up to create SA Legal Advice – an online platform that gives people access to efficient, affordable and quality legal answers to discrete legal questions. The attorneys on our panel are excellent in their fields, have several years’ practical experience and are committed to making access to justice attainable for all.”
Kohn is committed to using the law to educate and empower. Before joining the Academy 6 years ago, Lauren specialised in Public Interest work at a “golden circle” firm where she gained invaluable experience in, amongst others, procurement law, regulatory law in several fields, human rights law and administrative law. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in constitutional and administrative law at UCT, has published widely, and been cited extensively, in these fields and offers expert consulting services in public law.
Kohn believes in the significance of the education/practice interplay:
To teach my students meaningfully; to make the law practically significant and tangible for them – to bring it to life – I need constantly to be engaged in solving practical legal problems. The symbiosis between the practice and the study of the law is vital. SA Legal Advice keeps us as practitioners apprised of real-world legal problems faced by people on a daily basis. It is deeply satisfying to know our team of attorneys is playing a part in enhancing access to legal services in a country fraught by disparities in wealth and education.