1.1
You choose the lawyer
This is a hire, not an allocation. You interview a shortlist and pick the person, the same way you would fill any seat in your firm. And unlike a recruiter's search, ours is free: no recruitment fee, no upfront cost.
Singularity · Full-time legal talent · South Africa → United Kingdom
South African lawyers.Full-time in your firm.Up to 50% less.
Hire vetted, High Court admitted South African attorneys as full-time members of your team. You choose the lawyer and direct the work. The lawyer contracts with Singularity, not with your firm, and we handle the rest under one simple agreement. All at up to 50% less than a comparable UK hire.
Every placement starts with thirty days at our risk, not yours.
Up to 50%
below the total cost of a comparable UK hire. We show you the maths on the call.
30 days
at our risk. If the hire is not a success, end it, pay nothing, and we still pay the lawyer.
£0
recruitment fee. The search, the vetting and the shortlist cost you nothing upfront.
High Court
every attorney we place is admitted to the High Court of South Africa, then vetted by the lawyers on our own team.
Trusted by the fastest growing law firms
Clause 1
The arrangement
Not outsourcing, and not a temp bench. A straightforward way to hire a full-time lawyer for your firm.
1.2
The contract sits with us
Your lawyer contracts with Singularity, not with your firm. We handle the contracting, the payments and the ongoing administration, so your side of the arrangement stays simple.
1.3
They work as your team works
Full-time and dedicated to you: your matters, your systems, your supervision, your hours. South Africa sits one to two hours ahead of London, so the working day is shared.
1.4
One agreement behind it all
A single agreement with Singularity sits behind the whole arrangement. It is short, it is in plain English, and you see it before anything starts.
Clause 2
The roles you can fill
A full-time hire only makes sense if the work is really there. These are the seats UK firms fill through Singularity, and the work those hires run with day to day.
Part A
Commercial & transactional lawyers
First-draft contracts
NDAs, MSAs, supply and services agreements, drafted to your precedent and house style.
Mark-ups and amendment turns
Turning counterparty comments so your senior fee-earners review rather than redraft.
Due diligence
Data-room review with issue lists and summaries in your report format.
Precedent and template upkeep
The template library your firm keeps meaning to fix.
Part B
Litigation & disputes lawyers
Disclosure and document review
First-pass review, tagging and privilege flags under your protocol.
Chronologies and bundles
Hearing bundles, key-document chronologies, dramatis personae.
First drafts of witness statements
First drafts from transcripts and notes, ready for counsel's red pen.
Part C
Knowledge & research lawyers
Research memoranda
A question goes in and a memorandum comes out, authorities cited, prepared to your house style.
Case and regulatory summaries
Judgment digests and regulatory tracking your team never has time for.
Part D
Paralegals & support
Vetted paralegals
For firms that specifically want paralegal support at a paralegal rate, vetted the same way our attorneys are.
Schedule 1
Practice areas
The areas our lawyers serve today, and the work they typically run with in each.
Employment
Contracts, policies, settlement agreements and tribunal preparation.
IP & trade marks
Filing support, office actions, renewals and infringement research.
Corporate
Due diligence, ancillary documents, board minutes and data-room management.
Commercial
NDAs, MSAs, supply and licensing agreements, amendment turns.
Medical negligence
Records review, chronologies, quantum research and witness statement drafts.
Family
Disclosure schedules, Form E support and hearing bundles.
Consumer claims
Claims triage, letters before action and portal management at volume.
Wills & probate
Will drafting support, estate administration and probate applications.
Private client
Trusts and estates support, LPAs and client correspondence.
We cover further areas in a paralegal capacity. If your area is not listed, ask. If we cannot staff it, we will say so.
Clause 3
Why South Africa
Not a generic offshore pitch. Five structural facts about one jurisdiction, each one checkable.
3.1
Same legal family
South African law is a common-law system built on Roman-Dutch foundations and shaped by English influence. South African lawyers cite English authorities, draft in English forms, and reason the way the lawyers you already employ reason. That is not true of most offshore jurisdictions.
3.2
English, first
English is the language of South African legal education, practice and the courts. Drafting arrives ready to send, not ready to translate.
3.3
Your working day
South Africa sits one to two hours ahead of London all year round. Your hire is at their desk when you are. No overnight hand-offs, and none of the '24/7 support' theatre.
3.4
Honest economics
Up to 50% below the total cost of a comparable UK hire. The saving comes from exchange rates and cost of living, not from quality, and we put the comparison in writing before you commit.
3.5
Vetted by lawyers, not recruiters
Admission as a South African attorney requires an LLB, a period of practical vocational training and board examinations. That bar is set by statute, not by us. Then our own vetting starts: every candidate is scrutinised and interviewed by the lawyers on Singularity's team before they ever reach your shortlist. Lawyers screening lawyers.
Clause 4
Warranties: confidentiality & compliance
For client-privileged work this is the section that matters most, so it gets its own clause rather than a badge in the footer.
4.1
The contracting structure
Your lawyer contracts with Singularity and is deployed into your firm. The contracting, payment and ongoing administration of the lawyer all sit with us, and the full structure is set out in the agreement you see before anything starts.
4.2
Confidentiality, in writing
Every placement runs under a written confidentiality undertaking: a firm-level agreement with Singularity, plus a personal undertaking from the individual lawyer.
4.3
Data protection
Client material is handled in line with UK GDPR. Your hire works inside your document management system and your channels wherever possible, so material never has to leave your environment.
4.4
Your regulatory position
A firm's obligations on supervision do not change because a team member sits in Cape Town. Our terms are drafted so supervision and responsibility sit exactly where the SRA expects them, with your firm, and the working structure reflects that.
The engagement terms are short and in plain English. Ask for them on the call. Or ask for them now.
Clause 5
Execution: how a hire happens
Four steps, no theatre. You interview people, not proposals.
5.1
Scope
A 20-minute call about the seat you need filled, the must-haves, and what the first months of work look like.
5.2
Shortlist
We put forward a small shortlist. Every candidate has already been scrutinised and interviewed by the lawyers on our team, and our vetting notes come with the CVs. The search costs you nothing.
5.3
Interview & choose
You interview them the way you would interview any hire. If nobody clears your bar, we go back to the market. You do not settle.
5.4
They join your team
Your chosen lawyer starts full-time, deployed through Singularity, with the contracting and administration handled by us. Like any hire worth making, they may have notice to serve first, usually around a month. We stay in the picture with check-ins on both sides.
Clause 6
If the first thirty days are not a success, you pay nothing.
Every placement begins with a thirty-day period that carries no risk for your firm. If you do not consider your hire a success, for any reason, you end the arrangement immediately. You are not billed for the month, and we still pay the lawyer ourselves.
And it stays that way after the first month: no recruitment fee to start, no lock-in to stay, and a replacement whenever you ask, whatever the reason. Conventional recruiters charge their fee upfront and offer sliding rebates when it goes wrong. We would rather carry the risk ourselves.
Book a 20-minute call
All of it is written into the agreement you see before anything starts.
Exhibits
What clients say
Named firms, on camera and in public reviews, reproduced verbatim. Nothing anonymised, nothing invented.
Mehmooda Duke
Moosa Duke Solicitors
Video testimonial
David Knott
FatBets
Video testimonial
Éamon Chawke
Briffa
Video testimonial
Exhibit C15★ Google review
“With a busy trade mark and design filing practice we often found team members quickly moving on and rightfully so to progress their careers by either training to become a qualified trade mark attorney or a solicitor. Finding quality candidates committed to the role long term was becoming a challenge. Working with Singularity has alleviated that for us in that they supply high quality, professional and committed consultants from South Africa. We have found the process to be seamless and efficient, with the consultants quickly becoming part of our busy team. In fact, we were so impressed we used Singularity twice and now have two consultants working for us remotely. Highly recommend.”
Exhibit C25★ Google review
“A top resource for providing excellent professional staff. Singularity LPO are always readily available for queries and sourcing contractors. They provide a superb service which has made a real positive difference to the company and in particular our clients. Highly recommended.”
Exhibit C35★ Google review
“The people we have taken on via Singularity are of the highest calibre and we expect to take on more in due course.”
Covering letter
A note from the founder
Firms sometimes ask what sits behind Singularity. The honest answer: a network of more than a thousand South African lawyers, a vetting team made of lawyers rather than recruiters, and a placement process we refuse to rush.
Scale is never the shortcut. Every shortlist is prepared candidate by candidate, and if we do not have the right person for your work, we say so and go back to the market until we do.
Mike Prince
Founder, Singularity
Signature block
Ready when you are.
Twenty minutes, no deck, no obligation. Bring the seat you're struggling to fill and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help.
Singularity
Signed, Singularity
Book a 20-minute call
Every placement starts with thirty days at our risk, not yours.
Signed, your firm
Prefer email? hello@singularitylpo.com