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Can a client have multiple legal consultations with a lawyer in Zimbabwe?

Yes. In Zimbabwe, a client may have multiple legal consultations with his or her lawyer. There is no set down number or prescribed number of times in respect of which one should seek legal advice from his or her lawyer in Zimbabwe. The right to legal representation is a fundamental human right.

Prior to the Independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980 the right to legal representation (or legal advisers) was considered fundamental in nature and an inherent right. see S v Karaza 1967 (4) SA 260 (RAD) and R v Second 1969 (4) SA 255 (SR). Given the fact that the right to legal representation in Zimbabwe is an inherent right, it goes without saying that a client may have multiple legal consultations with his or her lawyer of choice in Zimbabwe.

Sight should not be lost of the fact that a legal consultation is meant to give the consulting party legal advice on a proposed course to take, it may require the holding of further consultations between the parties and the need for the client furnishing his or her lawyer with additional information or resources after the initial consultation.

Kuper J, in Hirsch v Taxing Master & Others, 1958 (2) SA 623 (W) 636

“At that consultation he tells the attorney what his grievance is and what it is that he would like the attorney to do. That consultation might take ten minutes and it might take the whole day. In the course of that consultation the client has to tell the attorney anything that has happened that he remembers as between himself and the person against whom the litigation is to be brought in order to place the attorney in a proper position to advise him as to the proceedings that have to be launched. But that is only the first stage in the proceedings. It frequently happens that as a result of that first instruction a summons can be issued or a petition launched, e.g., the case that was mentioned of a sequestration proceeding. In all probability all that is required is one consultation with the attorney to give him the necessary facts upon which that petition can be drafted, but in a case such as this or in many cases where investigations have to be conducted in order to ascertain the factual position at the time when the proceedings are to be launched - when investigations are necessary for that purpose - it follows that the final instruction to issue the summons or to draft the petition can only be given after those investigations have been conducted.”