The LRC is committed to using and developing South African law in a way to help marginalized and vulnerable groups who suffer discrimination based on one of the enumerated grounds in the Constitution. The cases that LRC takes on are often just the tip of an iceberg elucidating a problem that a great many others experience.
So welcome to the Durban office of the LRC...We are in the Diakonia Centre, which is a little centre that seems to house a number of NGOs, including the LRC and Ellie's organization, Lawyers for Human Rights. 
In the Durban LRC office, we have five attorneys, a candidate attorney, our staff coordinator and three interns (American, Canadian and South African). My role here is to work with the attorneys in preparation of cases. For the most part this involves a whole lot of research and a bit of writing as well. In many ways, I feel like I am continuing on with a second articling term, but I have to say, when you meet the people whose files you are working on, it's a bit more rewarding as opposed to meeting the employees who work for your client. The reality is, the work the LRC does is potentially life changing for many many people, not just our individual clients. The practice of strategic litigation is definitely something very different from the course I was following previously.
My first couple of days at the office were really an introduction to how the LRC works and who we work for. Willene, an attorney at the office, gave me her most recent case reports just to have a read through and see if there were any cases in particular that I wanted to work on. Well, the scope and breadth of the cases was a little overwhelming, but I have to say, there were a few cases that were exactly what I have wanted to work on for quite some time. The reality though, like everywhere, the justice system in South Africa is not fast, and for some of these files, justice for our clients is a long ways off. Other cases are focusing on alternative methods of resolution; avoiding the courts, recognizing that the time it takes to go through litigation will just prejudice our clients too much. And finally, something I have never experienced before, having a case, but no client to move forward with. This is a reality of strategic litigation - we know this is a problem, we know that many people are suffering because of it, but we need somebody who's story and circumstances will serve the entirety of the group. Willene currently has two cases in that camp, great cases where somebody needs to be held responsible, but we need the right client to be representative of the group. It's good work and there is definitely one case that I am hoping moves forward soon as it is pretty much my entire "Health Ethics and the Law" class from third year, rolled into one case - I am a law geek and I have accepted that.
One other thing that is quite impressive about LRC, is not only the people who have worked here at various points, but also the people who are "friends" of the LRC. For instance, this morning, while sitting in my office working, Mahen (our office director) popped his head in to introduce me to "Judge". Now, I didn't get a full introduction and all of it, so I couldn't tell you that much about this man. However, I did figure out that he is a retired judge from the High Court of Durban. Apparently sometimes he just pops in to have a chat, or use our library, or some other excuse to say hello. We have tea around 10:30 every morning, and Judge joined us today. His stories and thoughts were great to hear. I also had to laugh a bit to myself when he was lamenting the fact that he does these sessions with high school students at the Holocaust Centre here in Durban and he was quite dismayed by the fact that students now a days don't know their world history (reminds me of somebody...). It came out that these students who had been around last week, couldn't name the US President during most of WWII (for those of you who don't know - FDR). Thank goodness my dad has made sure that I am well-versed in American history. He was particularly impressed when I knew what the S. in Harry S. Truman stood for.
Now, I just have to tell you, the the main difference in working here - work hours are much more to my liking - 8 to 4. You can't leave much past 4:30 before the area around our office starts getting a bit dangerous, good excuse to go home. Plus, there just seems to be some much more day when you leave around 4, rather than 7.
I will also say, I feel like I am having to learn to research all over again. Different search engines, different court structures. I feel like I am starting at square one, but hopefully it won't take too long to get the hang of it over here. Anyways, below is a picture of the courtyard at the Centre. I think it is quite lovely and it feels like a little oasis from some of the chaos outside. 
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