Page 136 - The Circle of Life

times (to the ZAR) more? No way this makes sense to me even if you are a rich

man.

Delay and postpone

That is another tactic lawyer’s use. Delay and postpone as much as possible in

the hope that your opponent run out of money or that you give up. Thus we find
appeals to higher courts for no other reason than time wasting and of course
creating excellent fees. Whenever a lawyer takes a technical defense you can

bet your last penny that he has no case on merits. Meaning he is looking for a

way out since his client is guilty. That by the way is allowed and part of the
game.

It must be said that in our legal system you sometimes need permission from
the Judge to lodge an appeal. Refusal will lead to another court case wasting

even more time.

We try to overcome this by ensuring an Arbitration exit in your contracts and to
enforce them. That is the new way and it works very well. No contract should be

without it and it must be binding on the parties. In the alternative settle the
matter before wasting time and money on the courts. As said somewhere we try

to minimise court time to zero.

I firmly believe that law is way too expensive in Africa (including South Africa)

and unfair towards the client. But I really have no idea how it can be turned

around. Insurance and big corporates will make it more expensive and out of
reach of the common man. It can also be correctly said to be a business and a
business needs money to survive. Surely no-one denies a fair wage for a fair

days work. Just make sure you know what you get into."

You need to be wide awake to the shenanigans of lawyers and other professional
men. Any settlement is give and take. I keep on saying this and will do so until it

is fully understood. A good settlement is where both parties are most unhappy.

Even the law admits that no-one should be better off after divorce and they
mean the spouses and not the lawyers. You simply have to settle and get on
with your life. The big thing with settlements is to fully understand what you are

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