For Women in Law

This month we chat to 25 year old Nako Tebele, admitted attorney at Ramalepa Attorneys in Botswana. As a new entrant to the legal field, Nako’s hunger and eagerness is the motivation behind her willingness to realizing her full potential in this field. She completed her Bachelor of Laws at the University of Botswana. Earlier this year Nako was featured in Inbusiness Magazine and described as a youthful lawyer with a bright future. Below is our interview with the phenomenal woman in law. FWIL: Please tell us what qualifications you hold NT: I hold an LLB (UB). FWIL: What is your area of expertise? NT: I have almost 2 years’ worth of experience as a practicing attorney, so I am not specializing as yet, I take on all types of cases and learn as I go. However, I will state that lately, I am quite inclined to the Law of Estate Planning and Management as well as that of Corporate Governance. These are quite divergent, but that is the beauty of working in a law firm ...

Women make up a larger part of the human population but are relatively marginalized compared to their male counterparts. The topic on gender equality to some people, has become a rather boring topic and there is a perception (among those who are not directly affected) that this issue has been addressed, meaning that mechanisms have been introduced to deal with it, however it is clear that in some, if not most, fields it is still a struggle for women to advance up the corporate ladder.  Recent observers of the legal profession have noted that the number of women graduating from law school and entering the legal profession has increased significantly in the past two decades.  Nonetheless, women still comprise a very small minority of lawyers in leadership positions in large corporate law firms. So while the presence of women in law school and the legal profession has improved greatly, the uncomfortable. Irene Antoinette Geffen, the first woman to become a lawyer...

This week, we chat to 25 year old Otlile Mooketsi who is an admitted attorney from South Africa, with experience in third party litigation, commercial law and labour law (a sphere she has just recently entered in.) Otlile describes herself as an alpha female and in this interview she tells us what it means to be an alpha female.  Below is the interview between For Women in Law (FWIL) and Otlile Mooketsi (OM) FWIL: Please tell us what qualifications you hold OM: An LLB degree and admitted attorney  FWIL: What is your area of expertise? OM: Third party litigation , commercial and I’ve recently entered into the labour law sphere.  FWIL: What inspired you to study law? OM: When I realized that the only way I could constructively make an impact in the lives of other black people was to challenge the laws that were designed to hinder their progress. The only way I thought I could challenge the laws was to become a lawyer.  FWIL: Where di...

Lawyer, model and former Miss Earth Zambia, Cartier Zagorski is a woman in law who is currently pursuing her 4 th  Legal qualification. Cartier strives to create a platform to empower young women in Africa to take on environmental and sustainability issues and build these young ladies to become Ambassadors for the extensive environmental, conservation and sustainable work that needs to be done Cartier believes that we each have a responsibility toward the earth and she has taken the responsibility of ensuring that people be made aware of this fact, as the green cause holds a significant place in her heart. Miss Earth Zambia Executive Director, Catherine Constantinides has described Cartier as “a bubble of fun”, and i n this interview, she talks to us about how she manages to balance being a legal professional, a model and an influencer. A jack of all trades, Cartier’s number one goal is to attain success in the legal field and to develop herself professionally and personal...

About a year ago, while browsing my twitter timeline, I came a across a tweet about a young woman who had recently obtained an LLM, and naturally I became captured by the tweet and the woman, so I took it upon myself to do a little bit more research about the phenomenal woman in law. Her name was Sinako Bomela. From humble beginnings in Colesberg, a small city in the Northern Cape, to the Constitutional Court. Sinako Bomela’s journey is quite an interesting one. She completed her LLB degree at the University of Free State and was the only black, female and youngest Masters graduate at her summer graduation. After completing her studies, she was appointed as a law researcher to deputy chief justice Zondo at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the highest court in the land.  She is a proud founder of the Sinako We Can Movement, where she uses her access to the Constitutional Court as a platform to empower others. Sinako We Can is a project aimed at acquainting law student...