IS YOUR ATTORNEY GIVING YOU THE OPTION OF MEDIATION?
Most individuals and companies are contracting on a daily basis, buying or selling, leasing etc. Often these agreements are broken. When this happens to you, what are your alternatives? Normally you would first engage with the other party directly in order to overcome the problem. You may write to him/her or meet with them. If […]
DONATIONS
A donation is defined in the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 as “any gratuitous disposal of property including any gratuitous waiver or renunciation of a right.” The donor may therefore not receive anything in return from the donee, as this will constitute an exchange agreement.There are two types of donation, viz. donatio inter […]
10 REASONS TO MEDIATE YOUR DIVORCE
Divorces are ideally suited to be resolved through mediation. Why is that? Primarily because it’s cheaper, faster, less damaging and offers customised solutions for the particular needs of divorcing parties. Not all divorces are the same and mediation recognises that and provides for that. At this stage it seems that most people don’t know enough […]
ON COURT-ANNEXED & PRIVATE MEDIATION
The draft Court Rules for court-annexed mediation has been published for comment and will be finalised soon. Implementation thereof in certain magistrates courts is planned for August this year. With the impending implementation of mediation as part of the litigation process, although it might be voluntary, it is important to make the distinction between the […]
4 YEAR BATTLE RESOLVED IN 1 DAY
Earlier this year I was instructed to attempt to mediate a long running litigation matter. This was my first opportunity to mediate in a dispute where the parties’ relationship and trust had broken down completely, not only as a result of the original dispute but also as a direct result of the adversarial nature of […]
WHY DO LITIGATION ATTORNEYS MEDIATE?
At a recent RICS (www.rics.com) meeting held in Cape Town, a well-respected mediator in the engineering field asked the presenters, John Fletcher and adv. Jacques Joubert (www.aim-mediation.co.za), why attorneys who specialise in litigation would refer their clients’ matters to Mediation at all. What motivation would they have?The question is extremely relevant as undoubtedly attorneys and […]
MEDIATION AS A LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT
(“Last Ditch Attempt” – to make a desperate final attempt. The expression alludes to the military sense of last ditch, “the last line of defence.”) Mediators often make statements to the effect that litigation is an outdated method of dispute resolution that should be avoided at all costs and that all disputes can and should […]
BARRIERS TO RESOLVING DISPUTES THROUGH NEGOTIATION
In the opening chapter of Barriers to Conflict Resolution, Robert H. Mnookin ascribes the inability of parties to reach optimal agreements through negotiation, to the existence of barriers to successful negotiation. Mnookin asks the following pertinent questions as a way of introducing the discussion: “Why do negotiations so often fail even where there are possible […]
LITIGATION, MEDIATION & ETHICS
“So, tell me one thing, why would a litigation attorney refer a matter to mediation?” asks William, a senior commercial attorney in Cape Town. I hesitate a moment, shifting the phone to my other ear before responding: “Well, when an attorney knows a matter is ready for settlement, or when it is ripe for mediation, […]