MJS: Critical to Corporate South Africa

MJS: Critical to Corporate South Africa

Based in South Africa, Mothle Jooma Sabdia Inc (MJS) currently acts on behalf of various government departments, state owned companies, and listed as well as unlisted private companies.

Thipe Attwell Mothle, the Chairman of MJS, had this to say during our conversation with him.

Our clients are some of the largest, private government institutions in the country. As well as many types of law, our wide range of services include: – Alternative Dispute Resolution (‘ADR’), compliance and regulatory corporate finance, corporate governance, due diligence investigations, forensic investigation, international arbitration, multinational agreements and legislative drafting.

MJS is driven by the ambition to be at the pinnacle of the legal profession by remaining committed to the highest standards of service excellence. We are resolute in our desire to maintain our status as a superior and diversified law firm within the South African legal fraternity, offering specialised knowledge and unsurpassed personal service, coupled with an unwavering emphasis on delivering a total value added product to our clients. Our commitment to our employees and their advancement irrespective of race, creed or background will remain unwavering.

Ultimately, we aim to offer leadership and creative thinking in all areas of the law, whilst simultaneously upholding the ethical standards of the profession and contributing to the positive development of the legal fraternity in South Africa and the African continent as a whole.

We echo the ambitions of the now historical Paris Agreement, (which heralded a new area of environmental management and respect) in that we will continue to strive towards the enhancement and actualization of our environmental policies in order to ensure the sustainable development of future generations whilst also providing for the needs of those alive today.

MJS will continue to focus on expanding our practice until we have attained an optimal balance when considering our size in relation to volumes of new instructions received, and the number of clients serviced.

Our ambition is to remain competitively priced whilst at the same time delivering a vastly superior and all-encompassing service to our clients. We are confident that our strategy to continuously enhance efficiencies will continue to eliminate any areas of weakness to be found within the firm. We focus on enhancing relationships with our clients in order to ensure optimal levels of communication are maintained at all times. Where appropriate, we encourage monthly ‘instruction and settlement meetings’ between MJS personnel and our clients, as well as ensuring that quarterly visits by MJS directors are undertaken, in order to further develop lines of communication and complaint resolution mechanisms.

After plenty of success, the company does not have trouble staying motivated. Our finest accolade has been our clients’ faith in our ability, which has seen the firm develop beyond all expectations within the space of just fifteen years. We remain resolute in our quest to deliver unparalleled service excellence equitably, and in a cost effective manner. When MJS commenced business in 2001 each of the directors had been classified as ‘youth’ as well as ‘new entrants’ to the legal profession. It is this memory that continues to drive us in our initiatives to empower the future leaders of South Africa. During the 15 years of our existence, we are proud to state that we have previously trained 36 historically disadvantaged candidate attorneys (20 females), and are currently training ten newly qualified historical disadvantaged candidate attorneys (seven females).

MJS has nurtured some key principles in order for us to be successful. The ability to attract a high calibre of employees at all levels, to enhance unity and create a shared vision across all employee levels, and to create a culture of vibrancy, dynamism and ambition are the reasons why our staff work well together. In addition, the implementation of exceptional structures, infrastructure and efficiencies throughout the firm and recognising the need for constant improvement are other principles which we have adhered to. Staff also benefit from an unparalleled work ethic across all employee levels and the implementation of skills development and empowerment strategies that have become such an integral part of our make-up. A final and important principle is the need for humanity and morality in all of our dealings with clients’, colleagues and employees.

We are of the humble belief that MJS has greatly contributed to the evolution of the South African legal landscape by challenging the hegemony of established role players in the industry, with the implementation of innovative practices aligned with cost effective yet exceptional service delivery. The legal industry must remain mindful of the economic and political challenges that are becoming more prevalent across the globe. Africa remains particularly vulnerable to these challenges, and continues to be affected by low economic growth rates occasioned in part by the declining Chinese economy, Britain’s exit from the European Union and the American elections to name but a few.

MJS recognises that although we are considered amongst the market leaders in the South African legal industry by virtue of our superior human resources and reliance on the latest technology, if we do not adapt to these rapidly changing circumstances, all of our gains over the years can be rapidly diminished. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we continue to provide sustainable and long-term skills to our employees and colleagues, in line with our overall vision of providing legal excellence across the spectrum.

MJS understands that embracing technology remains a cornerstone to continued and future legal excellence. We strive to deliver exceptional services as efficiently as possible, and encourage the implementation of electronic data interchanges with our clients.

All of our employees possess individual personal computers with broadband internet access facilitated by means of high speed optic fibre lines, thus ensuring that MJS is at all times in a position to deliver optimal services to our clients. Our email and facsimile facilities are directed through a cloud security application which maintains the integrity of our records as well as enhancing security protocols. MJS utilises a time and application management system which is linked to our legal accounting software system, in order to ensure accurate and effective billing of our clients. The company also subscribes to a number of electronic software programmes and internet based applications which provides us with immediate access to the latest developments in South African and international law. Our network perimeter security was recently improved by the enhancement of our Intrusion Detection Firewall.

There are many reasons why we believe that MJS stands out from other companies in our sector. Firstly, by continuing to embrace technology, we ensure that our objectives of service excellence are realized. Also, we uphold the firm ethos of empowering our employees and service providers and provide our staff with a challenging and creative workspace based on an entrenched culture of recognition and learning. Our knowledge and experience is vital when we are in comparison to competitors. We maintain service excellence at every contact throughout the firm.

In the future, we aim to maintain our excellent standards through enhancing our specialisation in a range of legal disciplines critical to corporate South Africa, offering leadership and creative thinking in each focus area. As well as this, we plan to enhance our ability to understand and to evolve within the context of the local and regional business environments, thereby allowing us to assist local clients in the pursuit of global objectives and foreign clients in the structuring and development of their local interests.

MJS is constantly striving to enhance the depth and spread of our services, by enhancing the skill set of existing employees as well as by the introduction of technical skills to the firm via strategic employment initiatives. Our medium term goal is to enter the Southern African market by establishing a presence in neighbouring countries, and thereafter, to move into North Africa and particularly into countries where South African multi-national companies have a presence.

Company: Mothle Jooma Sabdia Inc (MJS)

Name: Hanlie Howe

Email: [email protected]

Web Address: www.mjs-inc.co.za

Address: Ground Floor, Duncan Manor, Cnr Jan Shoba and Brook Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria

Telephone: 27 12 742 9400