Details
The Law and Governance Academy of Southern Africa (LAGASA), with the support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), is pleased to announce the next edition of its experiential and impactful intensive Programme for emerging legal professionals.
🗓️ 7–11 September 2026
📍 Cape Town, South Africa
🎓 This is a bursary programme. Through the generous support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the course fees of selected applicants will be covered.
📜 Participants who successfully complete the programme will receive a certificate of completion, as well as personalised reference letters from Adv Lauren Kohn, recognising their participation, commitment and performance throughout the course.
Apply by sending application documents by Friday 14 August to lauren.kohn@za.legal Application documentation: motivational letter of max 2 A4 pages; updated CV (max 5 pages); full academic transcripts, 2 referee details.
This one-of-a-kind five-day programme is designed to equip both incumbent and aspiring candidate legal practitioners, pupils / advocates, prosecutors, civil servants, in-house legal / compliance officers and also incumbent final-year LLB students with deepened (and intersectional) substantive legal knowledge; as well as numerous practical skills and an appreciation of the necessary values for thriving in real-world practice, and ultimately with a view to strengthening South Africa's constitutional democracy for which a strong rule-of-law system remains a bedrock.
Participants will engage in a safe and effective learning experience that offers a unique blend of insights into legal theory (in various fields), professional ethics and hands-on practice, exploring key themes including:
✅ legal excellence, professionalism and the responsibilities of legal practitioners
✅ The rule of law, constitutional governance, integrity and accountability
✅ Corruption prevention, good governance, public service and democracy strengthening
✅ Legal-regulatory and commercial awareness in contemporary practice
✅ Critical thinking, communication, comprehension, advocacy, interpersonal and other professional skills
✅ The 101s of the Law (Done Right) – for example, understanding the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of a cause of action, which rights can be vindicated, and what remedies may be available, managing legal-regulatory and commercial awareness
✅ Navigating the interface between public and private law fields as they play out in practice
A distinctive feature of the programme is the live mooting experience with Adv Lauren Kohn, offering participants a rare opportunity to learn from one of South Africa's leading legal minds. Participants will work through actual judgments, learning how to read, analyse and moot a 'big case' with ease, and an eye for detail, and while gaining practical exposure to, for example:
✅ Civil procedure, court protocol and litigation strategy
✅ Pleadings and other legal drafting
✅ Costs and remedies
✅ Oral advocacy, confidence and etiquette basics, plus insights into smart mooting techniques
✅ The interaction between procedural and substantive law across intersecting legal fields.
Building on the stand-out success of previous LAGASA programmes - the first of their kind in SA - this course similarly bridges the gap between legal education and professional practice, fostering a new generation of professionals committed to excellence, integrity, the rule of law, and other constitutional values, and thus the highest standards of professional service.