Empowering Lawyers to Succeed
LawyerFirst Coaching & Consulting (Proprietary) Limited (hereafter “LawyerFirst®) is a South African company which offers online coaching, mentoring and training to support legal practitioners to reach success and enjoy developing their best careers.
LawyerFirst® was founded by Emmie de Kock in 2018. She is a former law firm owner and accredited business coach. LawyerFirst® understands and empathises with the personal and professional challenges legal practitioners face in legal practices and their careers.
Emmie de Kock is an accredited SA Business Coach, Certified NLP Life Coach, experienced attorney and former law firm owner.
She practiced as an attorney for over 15 years in private practice, specialising in all aspects of intellectual property and related commercial matters. She qualified as attorney and worked in a large law firm for 4 years, worked in a small firm for almost 1 year, and then started and operated her own law firm for 11 years under the name De Kock Attorneys. The target market of her firm was mostly entrepreneurs, start-up businesses and SMEs. Her firm served local and international clients.
She holds the degrees BLC (cum laude) and LLB (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria, as well as a post-graduate degree in Publishing which included subjects such as Design & Production, Information Technology and Publishing Management. She also completed SAIIPL Level 1 exams.
After 11 successful years, she sold the assets of De Kock Attorneys to a medium-sized law firm in March 2016 for full loan to bank. She served as legal consultant for 3 months to assist with transfer and smooth handover.
As law firm owner, she gained experience in all aspects of practice management, including financial management, HR management, IT management, office management, compliance and marketing. She also trained, mentored and coached candidate attorneys, junior attorneys and peers.
After successfully selling her law practice, she studied business coaching and decided to pursue a new career as external coach to legal practices.
She is married with 2 daughters. She is very familiar with the ambitions, pressures and challenges of striving to be an excellent attorney, legal entrepreneur, firm owner and super mom at the same time!
She is a Xennial, thought leader and enjoys writing and publishing articles on various legal and coaching aspects. She launched LawyerFirst in 2018 and it is her passion to see other legal practitioners happy, grow and succeed.
In May 2020, Emmie also developed and launched the platform “Lawyers Working Smart” to assist lawyers with digital marketing, new connections and growth opportunities. This platform, formerly known as “Lawyers Working From Home” was mentioned on national TV news.
Emmie prefers one-on-one coaching journeys with lawyers interested to start, grow or exit legal practices. However, from time to time, she also offers live group sessions or coaching packages with structured themes and topics.
Although the coaching sessions are structured discussions relating to agreed outcomes. Clients are encouraged to bring their own agendas, while the coach will continue to hold the coaching session emotionally safe, and on track, to help clients move forward in actions and thinking.
The coach selectively will introduce coaching tools which could help heightening your awareness, in particular, of alternative options, opportunities and solutions. In course of the coaching process, it is accepted that you are the expert in your particular practice. The coach will merely lead you to create your own solutions, which you will own.
In today’s busy work environment, LawyerFirst® aspires to create space and time for lawyer clients in sessions to assess, plan and reflect on their work and personal life. Coaching sessions create a confidential and supportive environment that enable clients to achieve their goals and move forward faster.
Having been a sole owner in a law firm for over 11 years, Emmie appreciates that it can get lonely “at the top” and that a confidential and supportive sound boarding or brainstorming partner could assist with moving through difficult times in practice.
Our coach’s coaching relationship with clients is professional, based on trust and intimacy, as conversations take place in confidence, and without judgment.
Coaching sessions are centred and customised around your needs. We care about our clients and are motivated by our clients’ successes.
In accordance with international coaching ethics, coaching contracts must be concluded before coaching commences. Coaching contracts confirms confidentiality, obligations of each party and payment arrangements.
LawyerFirst® offers two types of standard coaching contracts, depending on who will pay for the coaching sessions.
An Individual Coaching contract is concluded between the coach and an individual lawyer, in which case the individual lawyer pays for coaching sessions.
A Sponsored Coaching Contract is concluded between the coach, the lawyer and the lawyer employer, in which case the lawyer employer pays for coaching sessions.
If you are a lawyer interested in personal development or to start, grow, renew or exit your own legal practice, the Individual Coaching contract will be the best option for you.
If you are a lawyer working for a firm /corporate oranisation, whose development will mutually benefit the lawyer and the firm / corporate organisation, the Sponsored Coaching contract will the best option, if the firm / corporate organisation agrees to pay for coaching sessions. In the event of Sponsored Coaching, the parties will agree on limited and necessary reporting on the sessions to the sponsor.
