Rick Smith Email & Phone Number

Pretoria Area, South Africa

 Acting as Corporate Legal Counsel for several small to medium-sized enterprises: provision of advice, drafting, vetting and negotiation of various commercial agreements;  Guidance on the Companies Act 2008 & King Code IV; training of employees at commercial enterprises | Provision of in-house legal training to management to ensure compliance with Act, Code and general legal requirements in business. Attending commercial drafting inclusive of Company Agreements |Statutory Applications | review and assessment of legal agreements including vendor and supplier agreements, joint-venture and business partnership agreements between entities;  Advising on complex litigious disputes with a keen focus on case management including budgetary requirements and case planning | Contract management for commercial matters including routine benchmarking of compliance and performance of parties |  Head of litigation division at firm with a Junior Associate, Candidate Attorney and support staff under my supervision. Extensive practice management experience regarding financial control of division, negotiation on disbursements, setting fee schedules and assessment of overall divisional performance;  Extensive experience in litigation conduct of Motion Proceedings, Urgent Applications and running of Trials from initial contact with client, consultations with Counsel, gathering and processing of evidence, negotiations and Court appearances | Excellent consultation skills in client-attorney set-up or Counsel-Attorney set-up | Excellent contact base within the legal field with reference to Counsel | Fee-earner;  Excellent drafting skills in respect of Notices, Affidavits, Summonses with Particulars of Claim, Applications | Working independently with little or no supervision – running of cases on own initiative; although a great team player, getting along with colleagues excellently; Notable communication and interpersonal skills with a focus on precision and ethical conduct.

Menlyn Business Node, Pretoria

 Acting as Corporate Legal Counsel for several small to medium-sized enterprises in the greater Gauteng-area: this included provision of advice, drafting, vetting and negotiation of various commercial agreements and ancillary issues pertaining to business;  Provision of legal guidance on the Companies Act 2008 and King Code II including education of employees at commercial enterprises; Advising on cross-border disputes in both the United Kingdom and Ethiopia pertaining to trade and family law matters;  Advising on complex litigious disputes with a keen focus on case management including budgetary requirements and case planning;  Extensive experience in conduct of Motion Proceedings, Urgent Applications and running of Trials from initial contact with client, consultations with Counsel, gathering and processing of evidence, negotiations and Court appearances | Excellent consultation skills in client-attorney set-up or Counsel-Attorney set-up | Excellent contact base within the legal field with reference to Counsel | Fee-earner;  Excellent drafting skills in respect of Notices, Affidavits, Summonses with Particulars of Claim, Applications | Working independently with little or no supervision – running of cases on own initiative; although a great team player, getting along with colleagues excellently; Notable communication and interpersonal skills with a focus on precision and ethical conduct.

Pretoria Area, South Africa

Attorney with Right of Appearance in the High Court of South-Africa; overseeing entire Litigation Department at the firm in the High Courts of South-Africa and the Magistrate’s Court of Pretoria; fee-earner with own clients.  Extensive experience in conduct of Motion Proceedings, Urgent Applications and running of Trials from initial contact with client, consultations with Counsel, gathering and processing of evidence, negotiations and Court appearances;  Excellent contact base within the legal field with reference to Counsel;  Own client base – fee-earner;  Excellent consultation skills in client-attorney set-up or Counsel-Attorney set-up;  Excellent drafting skills in respect of Notices, Affidavits, Summonses with Particulars of Claim, Applications;  Working independently with little or no supervision – running of cases on own initiative; although a great team player, getting along with colleagues excellently;  Personal appearance in the High Court in unopposed motions, postponements, Settlements;  Conducting settlement negotiations during Trial proceedings and prior to Trial;Excellent relationship builder, establishing a rapport with clients and Counsel easily;

London, United Kingdom

Paralegal to Mr Menzies, partner focused on litigation and contentious matters. Working on e.g. a £100 million fraud case, as well as several smaller cases ranging from injunctions, declaratory orders and other contractual cases. Duties and tasks include the following:  Liaising with counsel at various chambers (i.e. Four Pump Court, New Square Chambers) with regards to specific tasks regarding cases (incl. Queen’s Counsel);  First meeting with and liaising with clients over telephone, email, per letter and fax regarding the state of their case and the necessary information needed; attending conferences with counsel, clients and solicitors;  Some independent casework as delegated by Mr Menzies; being the point of first contact by clients and counsel; Researching legal problems and potential answers to legal questions, summarising of cases;  Attending Royal Courts of Justice (Strand/Aldwych) for the issuing of applications; liaising with Masters at the High Court of Justice and other administrative personnel at the High Court for administrative matters;  General office administration;  Extensive experience in document review (i.e. 1.5m documents in a disclosure exercise within a team setup); especially where confidentiality is paramount;

London, United Kingdom

Worked as paralegal in Alternative Dispute Resolution department in a matter concerning a breach of The Competition Act – inquiry by the Office of Fair Trade (OFT) Working with highly sensitive commercial information where confidentiality was paramount; • Electronic review on the Kroll Ontrack Inview System®;• Breaking down of review task into several deliverables to slot in with the overall main review;

Chartered Secretary, Chartered Secretary

Solicitor Of England & Wales, Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test

Bridging Course to be admitted as a Solicitor of England & Wales

Admission As Attorney Of The High Court, Industry Qualification

Llb, Law

Bachelors Degree

Bcom Law, Business Management

Bachelors Degree

Matric, Matric, Matric With University Exemption