Manager: Litigation (2502) at The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• A Bachelor of Laws / LLB qualification at an NQF level 8.
• Admitted attorney or Advocate (with Pupillage from the Bar) of the High Court of SA, Member of the Law Society/ LPC
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience.
• A minimum of five years of managerial experience.
• Demonstrable record of litigation and litigation oversight and directing

ADVANTAGEOUS

• LLM and/or specialization by experience would be advantageous

WORKPLACE COMPETENCIES

• Leadership skills: Ability to lead by example, employ strong business acumen, solid judgment, and integrity.
• Critical thinking: Ability to objectively analyse and evaluate issues and factual evidence in order to form judgements.
• Contract vetting and management: Advanced skills and experience in drafting and vetting contracts, including service level agreements.
• Legal research: Ability to identify and retrieve relevant legal information/precedent to aid in the legal decision-making and/or execution process.
• Communication skills: Good interpersonal skills, people skills, organising and communication skills.
• Litigation skills: Ability to manage and thoroughly execute all phases within the legal litigation process from investigation all the way through to settlement and appeal.
• Attention to detail: Ability to pay close attention to details and complete tasks with a high level of thoroughness, accuracy and completeness.
• Organisation: Ability of to make efficient and effective use of time, energy and resources available by organising workloads and scheduling and prioritising tasks.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Litigation Strategy Development and Execution

• Develop and implement the litigation strategy to provide an effective and efficient litigation service in managing SANRAL’s litigation demands.
• Develop and maintain the litigation management and monitoring processes/ procedures to execute and measure the litigation unit’s performance of its responsibilities and functions.
• Establish the measurement criteria to monitor the operational objectives and manage the performance of the litigation unit and the quality of the support it provides to the business in litigated and non-litigated disputes and matters.
• Monitor and report on litigation matters and performance deliverables in line with predefined measurement criteria and agreed performance objectives and implement the necessary mechanism to improve delivery and performance.
• Identify litigation risks and implement the appropriate measures to mitigate and prevent the risk.
• Manage the litigation budget and expenditure on legal fees.

Litigation Management

• Guide the resolution of SANRAL issues and/or disputes through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation methods, as required.
• Oversee the resolution of litigation instances including pre-suit negotiations, arbitrations, facilitations, and appeals as they may arise.
• Advise on and guide the resolution of engineering and construction-specific claims/disputes including delays, price acceleration claims and change of work claims.
• Oversee the resolution of FIDIC-Contract-related issues and/or disputes through adjudication, litigation, arbitration, mediation or negotiation, as required.
• Provide advice and defend SANRAL on infrastructure procurement matters emanating from tenders issued by SANRAL and provide advice and defend all other procurement matters and litigation.
• Manage, assess and advise on the merits of litigated matters to determine if a settlement can be reached or the matter should proceed to court.
• Appoint, instruct and consult with external legal service providers within the correct internal procedure and PFMA requirements.
• Manage service providers' performance and delivery of instruction.
• Manage the litigation cycle from end-to-end and provide the appropriate instructions to avoid litigated matters becoming dormant.
• Comply with court timelines and limit reliance on condonation, extensions, tendering of costs.
• Consult internal clients/business to obtain instructions, facts on the matter and report to the business on developments in their matters monthly and as and when required.

Recovery of Costs

• Manage and monitor the execution of judgments, orders, and awards in favour of SANRAL at the conclusion of a dispute/litigated matter.
• Manage the recovery of costs awarded to SANRAL.
• Ensure legal bills are subjected to taxation/and or agreed fees and executed, engaging the services of a taxation consultant where necessary.
• Record costs recovered and to be recovered and provide monthly and quarterly reports on the status.

Management & Reporting

• Manage and report on operational litigation.
• Keep records and manage incoming litigation and pre-litigation disputes
• Manage the equitable allocation of work and assign responsibilities to Legal Advisors and Legal Officers as required
• Monitor the execution and review assigned work and responsibilities and any delays in delivery and performance.
• Ensure timely procurement and appointment of external service providers to defend or institute legal action for SANRAL.
• Provide weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports to Management on litigation and active matters.
• Compile memoranda and submission for Litigation to the relevant committees of SANRAL.