[1] During her studies, she worked as an articled clerk at Dawson & Partners in Durban and as a part-time cashier at OK Bazaars in Umhlanga Rocks; in 1989, she also spent several months as an adjunct lecturer at Mangosuthu Technikon.
[2] During that year, she worked for six months as a special assistant to the director of the International Labour Organisation, and she split the summer of 1990 between associateships at the Occupational Safety and Health Law Center and at Reich, Adell & Crost, both in Washington, D. C.[1] Upon her return to South Africa, Theron was admitted as an advocate of the High Court of South Africa in December 1990.
[1] She practised at the KwaZulu-Natal Bar for the next nine years,[4] with stints as a trainer at the Community Law Centre in 1990–1991 and as a part-time lecturer at her alma mater in 1994.
[1] In the latter half of 1994, she left her practice for four months to work as a provincial adjudication secretary at the KwaZulu-Natal offices of the Independent Electoral Commission, which had just administered South Africa's first post-apartheid elections.
[1] The following year, newly elected President Nelson Mandela appointed her to the Judge White Commission, which was established to investigate the administration of the former TBVC states in preparation for their incorporation into an integrated South African civil service.
[1] During her first acting stint, she wrote a minority judgement in State v Nkomo which dissented from Carole Lewis and Edwin Cameron's decision to reduce the prison sentence of a convicted rapist.
[15] The commission recommended her appointment, which was subsequently confirmed by President Zuma, and she joined the bench on 1 December 2010 alongside Steven Majiedt and Willie Seriti.
[4] Later the same year, the Judicial Service Commission interviewed her once more for a permanent Constitutional Court vacancy, this time as one of four candidates vying for the seat of retired Justice Thembile Skweyiya.
[18] In March 2017, Theron was shortlisted for a fourth and final time for a vacancy at the Constitutional Court, arising from Justice van der Westhuizen's retirement.
[19] During her interview, she was asked about the Gumede judgement and also reflected on the lack of collegiality at the Supreme Court of Appeal, saying that she felt she had been subject to sexism and racism.