In the dark about law departments in Africa

References on this blog to legal departments in Africa are hard to find. I am sure hundreds and hundreds of them thrive and manage very well, but their exploits have only rarely come to my attention (See my post of Sept. 17, 2005: De Beers group general counsel retired but remained a consultant; Nov. 13, 2005: South African requirements for legal diversity; and March 10, 2005: Kenya and external counsel costs.).

Indirect clues, however, assure me that an in-house community exists in Africa. Where there is a thriving legal community with low costs, there will be offshoring providers (See my post of March 6, 2009 #3: LPO provider based in South Africa; Feb. 9, 2010: possible LPO activity in Morocco; and Jan. 27, 2006: Accenture and Mauritius.). Where there are legal departments, there are conferences for in-house lawyers (See my post of March 9, 2006: a conference for in-house lawyers in South Africa.). Where there are law firms, there are corporate clients (See my post of June 20, 2007: alliance of law firms called Lex Africa that had 23 members from a number of countries.). Where there are lawyers there is software, such as document assembly packages (See my post of April 5, 2007: GhostFill from Korbitec in South Africa.).