Candidate Attorney (Medical Negligence Litigation)

About the firm

Lanser Sutherland Inc. is a boutique litigation practice at Westlake Square in Tokai, Cape Town. Our work is confined to medical negligence litigation.

We carry a substantial active caseload across the High Court divisions, and the work is medically dense. A typical week involves reading hospital records, operation notes, nursing charts, anaesthetic records and expert reports, and then translating what those documents show into a pleadable case.

The position

We are offering one practical vocational training contract, commencing on 6 January 2027. The successful candidate will work directly with the director and the associate attorneys on live litigation files.

The role involves analysing and chronologising clinical records, preparing instructions to medical experts, assisting with discovery, drafting correspondence, attending consultations with counsel and experts, filing court documents and assisting at trial.

This is a training position. You are not expected to arrive with litigation experience. You are expected to arrive able to read a clinical record and understand what it is describing.

Minimum requirements

These are requirements and not preferences. An application that does not meet each of them will not be considered.

1. An LLB degree, completed or to be completed by [date].

2. A demonstrable grounding in human anatomy and/or physiology. This means one of the following: a completed degree or diploma, or experience in a health science or life science discipline, for example nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, radiography, emergency medical care, biomedical science, medical science, pharmacology, genetics, or human physiology; or completed and passed university level modules in human anatomy and physiology; or documented clinical work experience in a healthcare setting.

3. A valid and unendorsed South African driver’s licence.

4. Residence in Cape Town, or a firm commitment to relocate to Cape Town at your own cost before the commencement date. This position cannot be performed remotely and we do not offer a relocation allowance.

5. Eligibility to be registered as a candidate legal practitioner in the Republic of South Africa.

How to apply

Send your curriculum vitae, your full academic transcripts including the transcript for any science or health science qualification relied on under requirement 2, and a covering letter to ***email_hidden***

The opening paragraph of the covering letter must state precisely which qualification, modules or clinical experience satisfy requirement 2. We receive a high volume of general applications, and a covering letter that does not address that point in its opening paragraph will not be read further.

Applications close on 30 October 2026.

Processing of personal information

Personal information submitted with your application will be processed solely for the purpose of assessing your suitability for this position, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. Applications from unsuccessful candidates will be deleted. Please do not include your identity number in your application. It is not required at this stage.