QUALITY BRIEFS

TRANSFORMING TRADITIONAL BRIEFING

Guidelines for briefing via electronic means

Unless I otherwise advise, I will only accept electronic briefs.

SCANNING THE FILES AND CREATING PDF DOCUMENTS

Ensure all the documents relevant to the brief are PDF [portable document format] files, apart from any drafts that you want me to settle which should be in Microsoft Word format – docx not .doc.

RENAMING THE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Once you have all of the documents in PDF format, then you need to change the name of each of the scanned electronic document. My file naming convention is to give the electronic document a number, then a description, then a date (if relevant).

Please ensure that the documents are ordered chronologically. For example:

1. Summons. 01-01-2023
2. POC. 01-02-2023
3. Plea. 02.02.2023
4. Amended POC. 03.03.203
5. etc

Always free to add more fields such as:

• relevant
• background
• privileged
• important
• etc

The more fields you add, the easier it is for counsel to understand what documents counsel is dealing with and what his or her instructor thinks about each document.

CREATING THE ELECTRONIC FOLDERS

So once you have scanned all of the documents and renamed the files, you have to group the of electronic files in a folder. The next process is to create electronic folders in the same way a brief might be structured physically. For instance, the following is an example folder structure for a brief:

1. Pleadings
2. Expert reports
3. Discovery. Plaintiff
4. Discovery. Defendant
5. Case Management
6. Interlocutory proceedings [ex. applications to amend, for security, etc]
7. Notices
8. Court Orders

9. Witness Statements
10. Index and trial bundles
11. Transcript
12. HOA and authorities. Plaintiff
13. HOA and authorities. Defendant
14. Memo’s, research & notes
15. Drafts
16. Letters

MAKE ALL OF THE FILES SEARCHABLE

The next step is to OCR [optical character recognition] all the electronic PDF files so that they have recognised text and are therefore searchable. A program such as Adobe Acrobat will allow you to OCR PDF files. There are free programs available from the internet which also performs this function.

CREATE ELECTRONIC BOOKMARKS

I prefer to bookmark each document within the file. Although I do not require it, it is helpful if the instructing practitioner attends to this as well, as it obviously saves valuable time (and costs to the client).
Long descriptions are not required for bookmarking – it is more important to ensure the bookmark description is short and descriptive of the document.

Here is an example of a bookmarked document:

DELIVER THE BRIEF BY SHARING ON A CLOUD SERVICE

The electronic brief is ready to be delivered! Please be reminded to include an instructional cover letter or memorandum to counsel.

So how do you deliver it? The chances are that the electronic brief will exceed the maximum size allowed for delivery by email. If the brief is small enough, you may send it by email.

WeTransfer is a free, effortless way to send large documents.
However, there are advantages of using cloud-based storage, such as Dropbox or One Drive. The main benefit is that the instructor's folder structure and counsel's folder structure, if shared by a cloud service, will be synchronised.

UPDATES TO BRIEFS ON A CLOUD SERVICE

In the event that the instructing counsel makes any changes to the cloud-based brief, including updating it with new documents, I must be notified thereof by email by the instructing counsel.

EFFICIENT CASE MANAGEMENT:

An instructing counsel’s duty

RESERVATION OF COUNSEL & DIARY MANAGEMENT

Microsoft Bookings

The success of any case depends largely on the meticulous management and coordination of its numerous elements. At the heart of this process lies the crucial role of the instructing counsel. I cannot emphasize this responsibility enough—it forms the bedrock of a well-orchestrated case.

Key aspects such as reserving my time for important dates and deadlines, fall squarely within the domain of the instructing counsel. This includes all deadlines, prescription alerts, case plan dates, judicial case management, pre-trial deadlines, court appearances, and consultation dates. These must be scheduled via electronic calendar invites, sent directly to ronel@advlewies.com or scheduled online below.

These calendar invites must include a reminder set for one week prior to the respective date. This will ensure we have sufficient lead time to prepare and take any necessary action.

Please note, I will not independently make calendar or diary entries for deadlines, appearances, consultations, and the like. As an instructed counsel, I operate on the instructions provided by you, the instructing counsel. In the spirit of this principle, I will exclusively act based on the calendar invites you send. It is then accepted that these reservations will be kept updated and the dates provided are accurate.

Fees

To ensure transparency and effective collaboration, the following guidelines detail my policy on fees and additional charges.

RESERVATION FEES APPLICABLE

When I agree to set aside a specific date - be it for a hearing or any other proceeding - at the request of the instructing legal practitioner, I reserve the right to charge a reservation fee. This applies even if no brief has been submitted, unless I am notified a reasonable time in advance that my services will no longer be needed on the reserved date.

Should a trial, application, or arbitration not proceed on the scheduled dates due to it being settled, postponed by agreement (preferably in writing), or for any other reason, I am entitled to charge a day fee in lieu of the first day's hearing. For one or more consecutive days thereafter, I will charge a fee based on a day fee or a percentage thereof.

A Member of the Society of Advocates of Namibia.

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