For David van Onselen, sole proprietor of VO Attorneys, his lengthy journey in practise has been unusual.
Granted, 40 years is a long time to find your niche in legal practise. This statistic still surprises David van Onselen, the sole proprietor of Van Onselen or VO Attorneys, a specialised conveyancing firm he established in 2016.
Fortunately, time is also a great tutor, which explains to some extent why David was able to enter his new venture with complete confidence. After all those years he knew a great deal about his strengths and capabilities and, indeed, about all those things which conduce to success in his chosen field. Add to that, two key staff members who believed absolutely in what David represented professionally, and you have the makings of a jumpstart into business. The roll-out has been way above expectation.
Drilling back into David’s background, he comes from a family steeped in law enforcement and creative writing. It’s therefore not surprising to hear he stands for so much more than conveyancing. He has a sound sense of justice – of right versus wrong, and the law’s role in controlling public behaviour patterns.
This was graphically demonstrated in the early 1990s when he championed the cause to change law. Under the acronym TUFF (The Unmarried Fathers Fight), his action group helped bring a substantial amendment to Statute Law relating to unmarried fathers’ rights – changes which are today very much part of the Child Care Act. It was a significant achievement much needed by society at the time.
Complementing a strong sense of justice is David’s affinity for working effectively with people. He understands human behaviour and their issues and is thus able to offer sound advice and counselling on a wide range of subjects. He can also mediate with understanding that there are always two sides to every conflict situation. He has formal training in this field.
Although initially trained as a litigation lawyer, David found no future in that field. His feel for people and their cause led him naturally to embrace conveyancing. Here, a lawyer is engaged by two parties to achieve a common goal – the transfer of ownership in immovable property from one person to another. The fact that this is achieved via a clear legal process, made good business sense to him. Job satisfaction could be achieved by applying yourself to how best to present the service, and in that way, delivering satisfaction for all parties involved.
With TUFF behind him, David threw himself into the business of assembling and leading a strong team of conveyancing staff. He gained important exposure to the establishment of share block-based developments for the timeshare industry, and was also directly involved in the emergence of hotels owned on a sectional title basis – both requiring creative drafting of complex documents incorporating new applications of the law. He found it uplifting and personally rewarding, but there was a catch. Being part of a legal firm offering a wide range of services with differing levels of profitability, made for a compromised overall business outcome.
The 2000s saw David try a new practise venture based in uMhlanga. The focus this time was on development conveyancing, but fate played its hand. The financial crisis of 2008/9 made profitable operations impossible. In some ways, he felt he needed respite from directing a legal firm. This came in the form of a five-year contract he was offered to run an established conveyancing department in a large law firm.
Those five years gave David an opportunity to reflect and consolidate his thinking on what had been good and bad in the previous 40 years. The result? The framework of VO Attorneys emerged. A specialist conveyancing practise solely owned and managed by him, with separate departments for Developments and General Residential conveyancing. In effect, two specialised branches of conveyancing rolled into one law firm.
Of course, theory and practise are two different things. Making VO Attorneys function effectively under one management structure required capable professionals dealing with the roll-out. Within a few short years, David acquired key people and, together, they work tirelessly to render their service delivery as a refined product, matching the complex issues posed by client’s legal requirements and the widely diverse spectrum of people with differing personalities that constitute the client base. It’s a delicate social science/legal balancing act – one that David sees as akin to an art form.
Outside of the legal office, David has a diversified series of interests. In the 80s he was deeply involved in road running. Club Chairman and then chair of the Natal Marathon Runners Association, he embraced both the administration of the sport and was a good runner himself. In the 90s he took up flying, obtaining his private pilot’s licence which he maintained for 10 years. Interwoven into his life has been a consistent involvement with fly fishing, both saltwater and fresh.
But his real creative passion lies in the workshop. Working mainly in wood, David is an amateur cabinet maker, with a side interest in metalwork. Running close to his workshop involvement is his passion for bonsai cultivation – both these passions inherited from his father. For David, gardening and bonsai make up an important genetic connection that his family has with things horticultural. He finds a kind of “zen” factor in tending his small but well-aged collection of trees, which lend a calming/contemplative influence to his early morning routine at home.
None of these outside interests run counter to – or distract him from – his conveyancing work. If anything, they enhance and elevate it. He considers them an important mental counter-balance to the largely indoor/administrative life he lives at VO Attorneys.
FOR MORE INFO:
- Unit 17B Canford Park, 53 Anthony Road, Durban North
- 031 003 3484
- http://voattorneys.co.za/