Stellenbosch University
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'Be a good accident waiting to happen'
Author: Development & Alumni / Ontwikkeling & Alumni
Published: 30/10/2018

She may have failed Private Law 1 twice while trying to finish a BA Law degree at Stellenbosch University (SU), but what she does know, said Matie alumnus and Trade Mark Attorney Jenny Pienaar, is that you can turn a dream into reality by just being a “good accident waiting to happen".

“You are going to have to have a plan, because life is going to chuck you in different directions all the time and that is when you are going to have to believe in yourself and what you want, to move forward," said Jenny.

Jenny, who is also a Partner and Co-Chair of the Trade Marks Department and acting as the Chair for the Trade Mark Litigation Department at the well-established law firm, Adams & Adams, was the guest speaker at the fourth Careers Café for 2018.

Adams & Adams is a local firm that practices globally due to its client base. It represents 240 of the 500 Fortune 500 companies in the United States as well as other countries, with a wide variety of clients from the FMCG (Fast-moving Consumer Goods) to the banking sector, local and foreign wine and tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries.

The Careers Café series was launched in 2016 by the Alumni Relations Office to provide a platform for alumni to engage with the university in a different manner by offering their time and skills to help current students prepare for the careers they want. Through this interaction, current students are able to learn from the real-life experiences of Matie graduates in the corporate world and benefit from advice and tips from them as well. Other career development opportunities on campus are also promoted through this event, encouraging students to further improve their work preparedness.  

Jenny's areas of specialisation include trade mark litigation, domain name registration, securing domains from unlawful proprietors, litigation related to copyright, passing-off, unlawful competition, and company name objections. She also has experience in advertising law and regulatory compliance.

However, in 1986 she had to temporarily abandon her plan to practice law and change to a BA degree in Classical Culture and Political Philosophy at SU instead.

Straight thereafter, she enrolled for an LLB at the University of Cape Town.

Speaking to the students, Jenny told them that that experience had taught her “planning anything in life to the finest detail is the biggest mistake you can make".

“Life happens and you need to be ready to make changes when it does."

After graduating from UCT in 1991, she struggled to find a law firm where she could do her articles, mainly because she was focused on remaining in Cape Town.

“My dad looked at me one day and said: 'Jenny they are not looking for a social success, they are looking for someone who is going to work hard for them'," and that, said Jenny, made her realise she had to be willing to spread her wings.

A few months later, she was working at a small law firm in Rosebank in Johannesburg, where she did her articles for just under two years.

“I had the most dreadful principal that anyone could ask for, but he did teach me a lot. He taught me how not to be a leader and manage people. Today, I focus on treating my team as professionals and with respect."

In 1993 Jenny got married and a year later she ceded her articles to a firm in Pretoria, where she worked until April 1995. Two months later, her husband, Johann, was transferred to France and Jenny gave up practicing for more than two years while living abroad. Unable to work on a visitor's visa, Jenny learned to speak French, “beefed up her cooking skills" and tried “to just soak up the experience".

She did manage to learn a new skill, she said – she signed up for a course on short story writing at the London School of Journalism.

When they returned to South Africa in 1997, Jenny fell pregnant. Her son, Alex, was born in January 1998. Once her maternity leave was over, she joined another law firm, working with them until the end of 2000.

“I reached a point where I just did not want to practice anymore," said Jenny. “I hated the work, I hated practicing in general litigation."

She took up a lecturing post at a paralegal training school and did that on a part-time basis for about four months. That's until she secured a position at Adams & Adams as an Associate. She's been with the firm for 17 years.

“I love my work here. When I came here at the age of 33, I started at the bottom after leaving my previous firm as a partner. I was being trained by attorneys younger than me, some in their twenties, but you have to be willing to explore the curves along your career path. It was worth it in the end."

“Five years later I became a partner at Adams & Adams, and in 2016, 2017, I was promoted to Co-Chair of the Trade Mark Litigation Department – so much for you are never going to be a lawyer," she said and laughed.

“What attracted me to Adams & Adams all those years ago was the fact that I could practice in a completely different field. They gave me an opportunity to practice in a more specialised field and in something that really interested me. It is amazing and I just love what I do. Yes, I'm still involved in litigation, but the clients are very different. The law that we apply may be the same, but each client has a different dynamic and different area of trade. Plus, we get to practice globally which makes every day interesting and challenging."

Outside the office Jenny has also been hard at work, contributing towards a number of international publications such as the World Trade Mark Review: Pharmaceutical Trademarks 2014/2015; the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance's book, Advertising Law: A Global Legal Perspective (2015);  the Life Sciences Multi-Jurisdictional Guide (2014 and 2015, 2016 – 2018) and the Life Sciences Global Guide (2018 -2019), as well as the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance's book Social Media in Advertising: A Global Perspective (2018).

When asked about whether her student years at Maties had help prepare her for the world of work, she said: “I think one of the biggest challenges when you're a student is to try to understand the relevance of all the things you have to study. You struggle to understand how all these subjects apply in practice. Some subjects were also boring as hell, but you have to do them, and you have to make sure you are applying your mind equally in all your subjects."

When she graduated, said Jenny, she knew she was academically prepared for the workplace, however, she was “unprepared for the real world".

“It's not because there is anything lacking in your education, but rather because you have a lot of knowledge, but you don't know a lot. Nor do you know how to apply it. Varsity teaches you where to find information and work teaches where and how to apply it. Learning to work in an office environment can be daunting as a lack of EQ and soft skills makes it hard to accept that when you are close to the bottom of the food chain, you have to pick up all the “dirty" work."

“It is very important to have soft skills. As a lawyer and as a professional, you are going to work in an environment where people will look up to you and look to you for guidance, so don't be a twit when you get to that point. Be respectful of the people in your team and know who they are. Learn to also be part of a team and to help your team members. Do not throw people under the bus, but rather be supportive where ever you can."

She also advised the students to remain lifelong learners. “I turned 50 this year and there is not a day that I look at something and I think: 'I did not know that'. You need to learn all the time and accept that sometimes you are going to fall flat on your face too."

Students were in particular interested in how Jenny has built a career in what is considered to still be a male-dominated sector.

“The legal fraternity is male-dominated, however, that is changing very fast," she said, adding that women, and in particular younger attorneys, are bringing their own style of management and leadership to the sector.

“You also need a good support system in the office and at home if you want to succeed in your career. It is hard to do it alone."

However, she added, that women still struggle to balance it all with many women attorneys, taking time out of the field or accepting part-time jobs that are more flexible to raise families.

“One of the biggest challenges I still face personally, is to find that work-life balance. I had a boss, who used to say to me – 'the older you get in law, the more you will work'. And yes, it is true, but I've learned that to find that balance you have to ensure that you have a solid team behind you that you have trained well enough to be able to support you so that you can find that work-life balance. My best support comes from my team of all-lady lawyers whom I know are much cleverer and savvier than me. I learn from them daily."

  • ​Photo: Matie alumnus and Trade Mark Attorney Ms Jenny Pienaar (second from the left) was the guest speaker at the fourth Careers Café for 2018. Here she is after the event with (from the left) Mr Marvin Koopman, Alumni Relations Coordinator in the Alumni Relations Office, and the students who won an opportunity to meet Jenny face-to-face over dinner on that Wednesday evening. The students are Ms Dina Tlali, Mr Fortune Ngwenyama, and Ms Jenna Wilson. (Henk Oets)