This week in practice · 12–16 October 2026 The whole edition · Served today · Rules library

Public holidays None this week. Next: Local government elections, Wed 4 Nov, in 3 weeks. Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994; the days a court-day count skips.

Summons served this Monday, High Court Notice to defend by Mon 26 Oct +10 court days · Uniform Rule 19(1)

The prescription cliff A debt from 12–16 Oct 2023 prescribes this week Last safe day Thu 15 Oct · Prescription Act s 11(d)

Your law firm, beautifully organised

Legal practice management software built for South African law firms.

Matters, clients, trust accounting, billing, the court diary, documents and AI-assisted drafting in one searchable workspace. One flat price for the whole firm, public pricing, and a trial that opens in about a minute.

Start free See how it works

First month R1 · Card at signup · Cancel any time

Built for SA law firms POPIA-conscious Trust-record ready Cancel any time

Built for diverse South African legal teams Owners, attorneys, candidates, paralegals and accounts staff working from one shared source of truth.

AttorneyOS — Command Centre Live

Good morning, ThandiToday at the firm

8 June

24Active matters

R 86kOutstanding

3Deadlines

Priority Mokoena v Santam — High Court Heads of argument due today · assigned to you

AttorneyOS AI Draft client update Turn matter notes into a review-ready email →

Trust balanceR 412 500

Invoices unpaidR 18 400

Whatever you practise

Six duties every South African attorney carries, whatever the file says.

They do not change with the practice area. AttorneyOS keeps the record for each one, on the date the law sets, and tells you before it falls due.

Trust

Every cent in trust belongs to a client

A client ledger that cannot go negative, reconciled monthly, and accounting records kept seven years because the Legal Practice Council Rules say seven. A file carrying a trust entry cannot be removed, and the app names the rule that stopped it.

FICA

FICA before the instruction is taken

Identify the client, rate the risk, screen the name against the Centre’s list and the UN, OFAC, OFSI and EU lists, and record who really owns it — with the date and the person who decided.

Fees

A fee note SARS will accept

VAT-aware, in rand, disbursements shown separately, with the section 35(7) cost estimate the client accepted sitting behind it.

Prescription

A prescription date on every file

Firm-wide and soonest first, amber within 90 days and red at 30 or past — and a second list of the files with no date recorded at all, which is where the risk actually sits.

POPIA

POPIA pulls one way, the statutes pull the other

Section 14 says keep it no longer than the purpose needs. Other statutes say keep it longer. The retention schedule holds both with the floor named, from the Legal Practice Council Rules down to the BCEA.

Fidelity Fund

The certificate that lapses on 31 December

Recorded per practitioner, in date order with the Council fees, the indemnity, the trust audit and CPD — and emailed to the administrators every Monday morning without anybody asking.

Find a South African Attorney

AttorneyOS Directory is free for attorneys and firms.

The public can search by practice area and location. Attorneys can list a profile, publish original legal articles and receive enquiries without paying for directory visibility.

Find an attorney List your firm for free

Modern law firm operations

For the real teams behind every matter.

AttorneyOS is designed for South Africa's legal profession: small practices, growing firms and operational teams that need calm, clear daily control.

Legal professionals discussing work in an office — **Collaborate clearly**Tasks, diary events and matter ownership stay visible.

Legal professionals reviewing work on a computer — **Work from one screen**Clients, matters, documents and billing stay connected.

Legal professionals working together at a desk — **Keep the firm moving**Everyone knows what is due, overdue and assigned.

Who it is for

Described from your desk, not ours.

The six duties above are the same in every practice. These describe them from a particular desk.

Sole practitioners Conveyancers Litigation Family law Labour law Debt collection Deceased estates All practice types

1searchable workspace for the whole firm

13connected modules, matters at the centre

10guided AI Actions, attorney-reviewed

100+practical guides for SA law firms

How AttorneyOS works.

From scattered legal work to organised firm control — without a demo call.

Start free in minutes

Create your firm’s workspace in minutes — no card, no sales call, no setup project. Free for 7 days, then your first month is R1.

Run a real matter

Add a client, open a matter, set a deadline, draft an AI client update and raise an invoice — in your first sitting.

Choose a plan when ready

Keep everything you built. Pick a plan and add your card securely with Paystack only when you decide to continue.

Everything a firm runs on, in one place.

AttorneyOS replaces scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tools with a single command centre built around matters and clients.

Matters

Matter command centre

Every file with its client, deadlines, tasks, documents, billing, trust and research in one view.

Time & Billing

Legal billing software

Capture time, raise VAT-aware fee notes, send statements and reminders, and get paid online.

Trust

Trust accounting software

Client trust ledgers, bank-statement matching, section 86 interest and a one-click audit pack.

Diary

Court diary & deadlines

Dies calculated on the SA holiday calendar, prescription register, court-day checklists and calendar feeds.

Accounting

Law firm accounting

VAT201 pack, expenses with receipts, bank reconciliation, income statement and a year-end pack.

Conveyancing

Conveyancing software

Transfer costs from the SARS tables, pro-forma and final accounts, stage tracking and client updates.

Court rules

The deadline engine

Summons served, plea delivered, leave to appeal: every date that follows, in court days, with the rule it comes from.

Payroll

Payroll and people

PAYE, UIF and SDL on the current tables, the EMP501 reconciliation and the COIDA Return of Earnings.

Compliance

The compliance calendar

Fidelity Fund certificates, indemnity, Council fees, the trust audit and CPD, in date order and emailed weekly.

Built for South African risk

The deadlines that end careers here don’t exist in California.

US-built platforms don’t know our rules. AttorneyOS ships with the risk instruments a South African practice actually needs — in every plan.

In the Diary

Court-deadline calculator

Dies per Uniform Rule 1: court days counted around weekends and every SA public holiday — Easter mathematics and the Sunday-to-Monday rule included. It shows its work, then adds the date to the diary in one click.

Across Matters & Dashboard

Prescription Register

Every open matter’s prescription date, soonest first — and the matters with no date at all, because the real risk hides in the untracked file. Amber at 90 days, red at 30.

In the Diary

Labour dispute timelines

CCMA and EEA referral windows proposed from the trigger date — reviewed by the attorney, added to the diary in one click each. Never bulk-inserted unseen.

In Trust

Trust Audit Pack

Audit season assembled in one page: period summary, month-by-month reconciliation coverage, negative-balance exceptions and dated CSV registers for the audit file.

Free for everyone

Four calculators attorneys use every week, open to the public.

Litigation

Prescription calculator

When a debt or claim prescribes under the Prescription Act, the last day to serve summons, and the rules for minors and RAF claims.

Estates

Executor fee calculator

The 3.5% executor's tariff, VAT, the fee on income after death and the Master's sliding scale, with the other estate costs explained.

Debt collection

Section 129 calculator

When may a credit agreement be enforced? Both limbs of National Credit Act section 130, counted in business days — and why an emailed notice has not been delivered.

Conveyancing

Transfer cost calculator

Transfer duty from the SARS table in force on the signing date, VAT where the seller is a vendor, and the conveyancer's fee on top.

Litigation

Court days calculator

Dies per Uniform Rule 1: court days counted around weekends and every SA public holiday, with the working shown.

Matters

Every matter, fully connected.

Open a file and see the client, next deadline, tasks, documents, billing and trust — and what needs to happen next. No more hunting across folders, email and WhatsApp.

Client, deadlines, tasks & documents on one screen
Assigned-only visibility for each user
Risk alerts for missing FICA, POPIA consent & overdue work

Mokoena v SantamIn Progress

High Court · Litigation · Next deadline 8 Jun

3 tasks7 documentsR 412k trust2 invoices

Next actionFile heads of argument

AssignedThandi M.

Client FICA status incomplete

AttorneyOS AI

AI that drafts with you — not a chatbot.

Guided AI Actions take your facts and produce a review-ready draft: client emails, consultation prep, matter summaries and document review. Every output is built for an attorney to check and own.

Backend OpenAI — your key never touches the browser
Per-package monthly AI Action limits & saved history
Built-in disclaimer & “verify before use” guardrails

Draft a Client Email1 AI Action

Client: A. Mokoena

Purpose: Update on hearing date

“Dear Mr Mokoena, I am writing to update you on your matter. The High Court has set the hearing down for…”

Review-readyAttorney must review before sending

Why firms choose AttorneyOS.

Most legal software makes you book a demo to see a price, or runs on accounting-era software. AttorneyOS is the modern, transparent alternative — built for South Africa.

What matters when you choose

AttorneyOS

Typical legal software

See pricing before you commit

✓ Public, transparent pricing

✗ “Book a demo” for a quote

Start today, no sales call

✓ First month R1, cancel any time

✗ Demo & onboarding project

AI built into the workflow

✓ Guided, attorney-reviewed Actions

~ Add-on, or a generic chatbot

Built for SA compliance

✓ POPIA & trust-record ready

~ US/EU-first, or accounting-led

Predictable monthly price

✓ Fixed monthly, 15% off annual

✗ Custom quotes & add-ons

Comparison reflects the common demo-gated, quote-only model of established legal software. Every firm remains responsible for its own compliance, trust accounting and professional obligations on any platform.

Stop chasing matter status across email, spreadsheets and WhatsApp. Open one screen every morning and see what needs attention, who owns it and what’s due — then bill the work the same week.

The AttorneyOS promise

Simple, firm-sized pricing.

Start free for 7 days, no card. Explore everything on real matters, then carry on for R1 for your first month and your plan price after that, or walk away and that is the end of it.

Solo Attorney

R999/month

The whole of AttorneyOS, for one attorney.

Solo attorney

Up to 1 users
Clients & matters
Time, billing & support
Trust records
100 AI Actions / month

Choose Solo Attorney

Attorney and Assistant

R1 999/month

The whole of AttorneyOS, for an attorney and up to two colleagues.

2 - 3 users

Up to 3 users
Clients & matters
Time, billing & support
Trust records
300 AI Actions / month

Choose Attorney and Assistant

Practice

R3 499/month

The whole of AttorneyOS, for a team of up to five.

4 - 5 users

Up to 5 users
Clients & matters
Time, billing & support
Trust records
500 AI Actions / month

Choose Practice

Professional

R6 999/month

The whole of AttorneyOS, for a firm of up to fifteen.

6 - 15 users

Up to 15 users
Clients & matters
Time, billing & support
Trust records
1500 AI Actions / month

Choose Professional

Firm / Enterprise

R11 999/month

The whole of AttorneyOS, for any number of people, with migration support and custom limits.

16+ users

Unlimited users
Clients & matters
Time, billing & support
Trust records
AI Actions / month

Choose Firm / Enterprise

Security & trust

Serious enough for serious firms.

Modern doesn’t mean less secure. AttorneyOS is built around firm-level isolation, permission-checked documents and audit trails.

Firm-level isolationEvery firm’s data is separated by design — enforced at the database layer.

POPIA-consciousConsent & FICA fields built into client records.

Permission-checked filesPrivate document storage; downloads are access-controlled.

Audit trailsKey actions are logged so the firm can see who did what.

Trust-record readyReceipts, payments, transfers & reversals with exports.

No lock-inMonth-to-month. Cancel during the trial and you are not billed.

Questions firms ask first.

What is AttorneyOS?

AttorneyOS is legal practice management software built in South Africa for South African law firms: matters, clients, trust accounting, billing, the court diary, documents and AI-assisted drafting in one secure workspace, at one flat monthly price for the whole firm.

Is AttorneyOS built for South African rules?

Yes. It ships with a court-day (dies) calculator on the SA public-holiday calendar, a prescription register, Legal Practice Act trust recordkeeping with a section 86 interest schedule, VAT-aware billing in rand and a VAT201 pack.

How much does it cost?

Plans start at R999 a month for a solo attorney and are one flat price per firm, never per seat. Every plan begins free for 7 days with no card, then a first month for R1, then the plan price; you can cancel any time.

Is AttorneyOS only for certain kinds of practice?

No. Every plan has every feature, so nothing is switched off for a practice area, and the duties the software is built around — trust records, FICA, VAT fee notes, prescription dates, POPIA retention and the Fidelity Fund certificate — are the same in every practice. The pages under 'Who it is for' describe the same workspace from a particular desk.

Do I need a demo or a sales call?

No. The workspace opens immediately after signup with a demo matter, so the trial is the demo. Pricing is public on this site.

Can I move from my current practice system or from spreadsheets?

Yes. Export clients and matters to CSV, import them with the built-in importer, capture open balances as opening entries and run in parallel for a month. Your data exports back out at any time.

Is my clients' data protected?

Every firm runs in its own isolated workspace enforced at the database layer, with role-based permissions, permission-checked document downloads and audit logs, designed with POPIA in mind.

Something else? Write to hello@attorneyos.co.za and a person replies, not a bot.