Thanks largely to an international press with its eye on sensationalism rather than on accuracy South Africa has often been dubbed the world’s crime capital. Though clearly untrue, our cities are never short of work for a skilled attorney and Johannesburg definitely offers the lion’s share. Although criminal cases in the city contribute to a major segment of the court calendar, there is far more than just criminal law to challenge the abilities of an attorney in the populous and dynamic “place of gold”.

The vast number of cars and drivers in the region is just one of the causes of the growing need for people to consult an attorney. Johannesburg and its surrounding experience a lot of traffic congestion that results in accidents and claims against drivers that require legal intervention. Driving whilst blood alcohol levels are above the permitted limit, though in many cases, totally unintentional, may lead to severe penalties with lifelong consequences without the aid of a skilled defence attorney.

The city is well-named Egoli. Hosting the nation’s greatest concentration of corporate headquarters, means the demand for specialists in commercial and contract law is an on-going one and can often represent the major demand placed on the role of an attorney in Johannesburg. These businesses employ the major part of the country’s workforce and, not surprisingly, the resolution of labour disputes such as unfair dismissal and collective bargaining creates an equally high demand for a Johannesburg attorney with a background in labour law.

The city’s dynamic nature sees a large number of people constantly on the move, changing jobs and homes. In the process, they often miss letters of demand, fines and the like that could, in all innocence, lead to the issue of arrest warrants. This only serves to underline the value of knowing a competent attorney in Johannesburg. When an old criminal record prevents employment or the issue of a visa, only the services of an attorney may help.

An attorney in Johannesburg as elsewhere needs careful selection. Contact us for all your specialised legal needs.

The role of a South African lawyer can be something of a complex one. This unusual degree of complexity arises from the hybrid nature of the country’s law. The nation’s mixed legal system combines elements of a civil law derived from the Dutch, indigenous laws originating from the African population and civil law passed on by the British. Recent additions arising from the transition to majority rule have introduced further laws and procedures making the task of a South African lawyer even more demanding.

In general, when addressing matters of procedural law, company law and the law of evidence, the South African lawyer must refer to English law whilst most other legal areas such as contract law, family law and the law of delict or tort as applied to mass legal actions, fall under the aegis of Roman-Dutch common law. The country’s court system, too, is a complex one, comprising Magistrate’s courts, High courts, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court each with its own protocols and procedures, placing even greater demands on the South African lawyer.

In the years since the move to democratic government, there have been major improvements to laws governing the welfare of employees, their remuneration and their working conditions. This has led to a need for the South African lawyer to become familiar with labour law. Many old and now irrelevant laws may have not yet been repealed and while the law makers may labour to address these oversights, the South African lawyer is called upon to protect clients from their possible consequences.

The South African lawyer faces constant change. Updated laws governing property rights as well as corporate and commercial laws, laws concerning privacy and the protection of personal information are now in place and subject to constant amendment in order to improve them. The dynamic state of the nation’s laws and the peculiar hybrid framework of law pose a stiff and continuing challenge for the South African lawyer.

For reliable, legal assistance from a South African lawyer who is up to the challenge, contact us.

There have been many advances in labour law since the transition to majority rule, and handling a company’s labour relations has become both a vitally important task and a highly specialised one. Even prominent companies with their well-qualified HR team are increasingly discovering that they may need the services of a legal firm. They have learned how easy it can be, without in-depth knowledge, to contravene the labour laws and create a disruption of the normally harmonious labour relations.

Individuals too, when becoming the victims of poor labour relations, will often have an acute need for some professional legal help in order to successfully appeal against an unfair labour practice that resulted in inappropriate dismissal, reduction of income or other benefits. Under laws designed to protect employees and preserve good labour relations, there is a documented code of practice governing dismissal from which any deviation could result in a company being ordered to reinstate or to compensate a staff member.

The role of lawyers within the field of labour relations is certainly not confined to this type of intervention, however. Their experience extends to such routine, though crucial, tasks as providing assistance in the drafting of employment contracts and investigating allegations of discriminatory practices or sexual harassment in the workplace. The domain of modern labour relations in South Africa has become a veritable minefield that employers are finding increasingly dangerous to negotiate without competent, legally-qualified help.

On a large scale, maintenance of good labour relations may become contingent upon negotiation with a trade union or representation at a CCMA hearing. For both conflict resolution between employers and individuals and collective bargaining situations, the opportunity to preserve or restore acceptable labour relations may be lost without professional legal support. Good labour relations are the route to improved labour performance and the increased productivity that is a crucially important factor in the nation’s on-going efforts to achieve economic recovery.

To protect your company from a breakdown in labour relations may require legal support. Contact us, we are experienced and proven in all aspects of labour law.

Although the volume of people in any society that intentionally break the law and that may subsequently require the services of criminal lawyers amounts to only a small percentage of the population, there are also many others that may, inadvertently and without any intention, find themselves with a similar need. Non-payment of fines or other accounts, not received, due to error or a change of address, could result in criminal prosecutions and leave the accidental offenders in need of criminal lawyers.

Many otherwise law-abiding citizens, during their youth, may have indulged in some high-spirited activity or other that led to an arrest and even a criminal record that persists into adulthood. Criminal lawyers can prove to be the only solution in getting such records expunged and removing a stigma that may otherwise, unfortunately impede a young offender’s progress indefinitely. Quite minor offences on record could later the remedying these situations.

Who, following an office party or birthday celebration, has not, on at least one occasion, later proceeded to drive home, confident of his or her ability but still over the legal limit?  This is one more seemingly innocent act that often results in the need for criminal lawyers. Faced with a simple speeding ticket, most will settle for paying an admission of guilt fine. A few might opt to challenge the fine in courts and attempt to have it reduced or even squashed. In criminal matters, however, the professional services of criminal lawyers provide the only sensible defence solution.

Criminal lawyers are specialists, whose knowledge and understanding of criminal law and familiarity with legal precedents provides a powerful protection to all faced with criminal charges. It is often said that “He who undertakes his own defence, has a fool for a client” and there’s no doubting the truth in that statement. One’s reputation and liberty should be entrusted only to professional criminal lawyers.

If you feel that you, or a member of your family or staff, may require expert advice and the support of experienced criminal lawyers, be sure to contact us without delay.

Attorneys are constantly called upon to provide advice and services in numerous, widely-divergent and specialised fields. Since it is beyond the capacity of a single attorney to be a specialist in all fields of the law the more progressive law practices offering attorney services in Johannesburg, for instance, will be staffed by a team in which individual attorneys offer a number of specialisms between them. Among the specialist attorney services most often in demand are labour law, family law, divorce law and commercial law to name just a few.

Although most of these services are available in cities and towns across the country, attorney services normally experience their greatest demand in Johannesburg. Although a frim may establish its offices in a given city, however, this in no way restricts its footprint and many of the more respected practices will have  clients in other South African cities and may often provide their specialist attorney services to major international clients familiar with their reputation.

Each specialised branch of law offered under a firm’s attorney services may, itself, comprise of a number of component fields. In Johannesburg family law services are in high demand and may relate to such issues as maintenance payments, custody of and access to minor children, ante-nuptial contracts, incidents of domestic violence and adoptions, each of which requires its own specialist knowledge.

Labour law too, can account for a considerable percentage of a practice’s attorney services, especially in Johannesburg. Today, a significant number of labour related cases relate to possibly unfair treatment of domestic workers by their informal employers and these cases may often end up by needing attorney services in the form of legal representation at CCMA hearings.

Divorce proceedings can result in severe complications, particularly where substantial finances are involved; just one more situation in which skilled attorney services can prove vital. Whatever your particular legal needs, we recommend that you contact us in Johannesburg for details of our full range of affordable and professional legal services.

Even in times when work is plentiful, to lose a job can be traumatic and have life-changing consequences. However, when that job has been lost as a result of an unfair dismissal, the sense of injustice is even further exacerbated. There are strict procedures that employers are bound by law to follow in order to dismiss an employee and failure to follow these prescribed steps to the letter may result in a labour dispute arising from an alleged unfair dismissal.

The conditions under which an employer may be entitled to dismiss an employee are threefold, namely retrenchment due to some operational necessity, an act of misconduct or some incapacity on the part of the employee. To avoid charges of unfair dismissal, each one of these options has to be executed in total compliance with the procedures that are defined by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the codes of good practice contained in the Labour Relations Act.

In the case of workers who may be designated as contractors by employers, it is possible that they may not be subject by the conditions laid down in these acts and dismissals with little warning and without explanation may occur. Even these may prove to be cases of unfair dismissal where the relationship between employer and contractor does not comply fully with the legal definition of a contractor. This explains the vital role of specialist labour lawyers in identifying cases of unfair dismissal and protecting the rights of employees.

Unfair dismissal can affect anyone. It may be the result of genuine ignorance of the correct procedures on the part of an employer but it is often, especially in the case of a new or smaller business, an attempt to solve a short term financial problem and, as such, is quite illegal. Expert assistance is gradually educating employers and employees in the correct procedures and how to avoid unfair dismissal.

If you are concerned about a possible unfair dismissal you will need expert advice from a labour law specialist. Contact us for help in this and other labour-related issues now.

Since the ruling party introduced the long-overdue protection of employee’s rights in its improvements to the nation’s labour laws, employers in both the public and private sectors have found themselves increasingly involved in some form of labour dispute. Unfair dismissals, sexual harassment, gender or racial discrimination may all result in a labour dispute and when such disputes occur they are often only successfully resolved through the intervention of specialist lawyers.

Labour law specialists certainly do not devote all of their time to mediating in cases of labour dispute although this does represent a major part of their services. They are also available to offer legal advice on drawing up employment contracts as well as to assist in collective bargaining exercises. Representation in some labour dispute or another, however, is probably the service that is most often required of the labour law specialist.

A labour dispute can arise with little warning and whether you are the complainant or the defendant it is important to determine whether the said complaint is a valid one and how, where possible, any differences may be best resolved. Dismissal that has been seen as unfair because it was implemented without following the procedures prescribed by law is one of the most common events that lead to a labour dispute.

Among the rights of employees entrenched in the basic conditions of employment act are the right to safe working conditions, the right dignity and respect and the right receive all resources required to perform the job. Failure to respect these rights may lead to a labour dispute that will require formal resolution. It is often the case that an employer has not contravened the rights of an employee but is faced with a labour dispute declared by the employee. Clearly all cases require sound legal knowledge and total objectivity by the labour specialists.

If you feel that your rights, either as an employer or an employee, may have been abused or that you may at some time become involved in a labour dispute, contact us for specialist advice without delay.

Most that read this article will be just average South African citizens that habitually live a law-abiding existence and would never contemplate any sort of criminal activity. Despite this, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that, whether through any fault of your own or not, you may one day have a need for some criminal lawyer help. When a misdemeanour committed in one’s youth or an accidental over-indulgence in alcohol while driving threatens to turn your world upside down, criminal lawyer help may be your only hope.

Let’s say a minor conviction that resulted from some high spirited, if unwise, activity during your student days has now come back to haunt you by obstructing your application for a visa or your chance of securing a desirable new job. This may be the time to consult a criminal lawyer. Help in this sort of matter is their speciality and it is likely that, in the right hands, your difficulties can be resolved quickly and inexpensively. A specialist criminal lawyer can help where attempts to resolve such problems unassisted invariably fail.

Drunk driving is on the increase and, although you may not be a person that habitually drinks to excess, that spontaneous sales lunch or office party could be just enough to push blood levels of alcohol above the legal limit without any obvious sign of dysfunction. At such times, having a criminal lawyer to help could make the difference between conviction and acquittal. The important feature in each of these examples is choosing a specialist criminal lawyer to help you.

A specialist criminal lawyer offers help based upon experience and a sound knowledge of criminal law and when faced with possible criminal charges this is no time to attempt to defend oneself or to make a random selection armed with the yellow pages and a pin. A good criminal lawyer’s help should never be underestimated.

If you or a family member should ever need to contact a criminal lawyer for help it’s wise to be prepared in advance. Contact us for more about expert support when must need it.

An international attorney normally works in numerous aspects of international law but specialises in only one specific legal field. By doing so, a team of lawyers and attorneys can combine their specialised knowledge in one field to provide their clients services that deals with all aspects of international law. When choosing an international attorney, it is therefore important to first ascertain which field of international law meets with your specific requirements. Some of the aspects covered by an international attorney are trade or commercial lawyers, family law attorneys, international tax and business as well as many others.

You will also need to determine the services that you require in employing an international attorney. These services can include international contracts, litigation, mediation, as well as the drafting and compiling of other legal documents. Make sure that the international attorney that you choose will be able to offer you these services within their specialised field of international law and not only on a general basis. An international attorney can also offer advice and assistance regarding human rights cases on a global or international scale.

An international attorney can appear before any court in his or own country of origin as well as before the World Court. They can also enter into negotiations with and deal with the implementation of inter-nation treaties and agreements. Any interactions with the World Trade Organisation or other global entities will require the services of an international attorney. These attorneys can assist you with entering into international credit agreements with other parties regarding trade. Additionally they will have all the information that you require concerning customs as well as the transfer duties and taxes involved with cross-border or overseas trade.

For more information on the types of specialised fields and services that an international attorney can offer you, whether for personal or business related legal concerns, you can contact us.

You first need to know what your employee rights are before you can find out whether these rights have been infringed upon by your employer. The best way to find out what these rights are is to contact a lawyer or attorney who specialises in employee rights. There are, however, a few things that you need to be aware of that could constitute the circumvention of your employee rights by your employer or in the workplace. Unfair Discrimination in the workplace is one of these rights that you should have knowledge of.

Discrimination in the workplace can be defined as any unfair treatment that you receive in the workplace due to your sex, race, sexual orientation or any other personal factors. This constitutes an infringement of your employee rights in that a work colleague with whom you share similar skills receives a promotion or higher salary due to the above listed reasons. Discrimination in the workplace can be difficult to prove so you need to be sure of your facts before approaching an attorney regarding your employee rights in this regard.

Unfair dismissal is another contravention of employee rights that is often encountered by labour lawyers and attorneys. There is a strict code that each and every employer in South Africa must follow in the dismissal of one or more of their employees. Unfair dismissal is a much easier case to prove as there must documentation related to the issue at hand. You will need to have an employee contract, dismissal letter as well as any other information and documentation relating to your case when approaching a labour lawyer for advice or assistance.

Make sure that you understand your employee rights and get the best advice from labour lawyers or attorneys regarding the action you can take against your employer simply by contacting us.