Newsletter Archives

BCLR Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2009

• Suretyships are a danger to your financial health
• Can an insurer refuse to pay your insurance claim on the grounds that you make full disclosure when taking out the policy?
• Beware "standard clauses" in a contract
• The creditor of an insolvent can institue legal proceedings to cover monies paid to other creditors prior to the formal declaration of insolvency

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 3/2009

• Summary judgment - a potent weapon against bogus defences
• The consequences of not having a restraint of trade agreement with your employees
• Over-indebtedness as a defence to a claim for repayment of a debt
• Are you always legally bound by a document you sign?

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 2/2009

• Protecting the assets of a person who cannot manage his own affairs
• Popular misconceptions regarding contracts
• What is your most valuable business asset?
• The High Court gives short shrift to a trumped-up defence
• A tenant's duty to repair damage to the leased premises

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 1/2009

• Insurance - myths, misconceptions and pitfalls
• South Africa's abstract system of land ownership

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2008

• Contracts for the sale of immovable property
• Can a contract exist even if nothing has been said or written?
• Are restraints of trade enforceable?
• Is it worthwhile to have a restraint of trade agreement with one's employees?
• The perils of not answering a letter that makes important assertions

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 3/2008

• Are everyday contracts necessarily "fair"?
• Creditors whose debts are paid prior to the payer's insolvency can sometimes be compelled to repay what they had received
• The rights of a tenant whose landlord fails to maintain the leased premises

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 2/2008

• Friction between owners in sectional title schemes
• Caveat subscriptor!
• Cancellation of a contract where the purchaser fails to provide an acceptable bank guarantee for payment of the purchase price
• The sale of a business that has not been advertised in the Government Gazette and a local newspaper

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 1/2008

• Mere suspicion by SARS does not suffice to prove fraud by a taxpayer
• The effect of sequestration or winding-up on a creditor who has already obtained judgment against the debtor
• Misdescription of insured property - rejection of insurance claim
• Beware penalty clauses in contracts

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2007

• Contracts for the sale of immovable property
• Are courts really "courts of justice"?
• Beware of contracting with non-residents
• Contractual terms for the exclusive benefit of one party can be waived by that party
• Sales in execution of property previously sold by the debtor

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 3/2007

• Liability for latent defects and for consequential damages
• Double sales of the same property
• The Fidentia judgment highlights the legal duties of trustees
• Personal liability of members for a CC's debts
• Is a written contract cast in stone?

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 2/2007

• "Pre-emptive rights" are not limited to contracts of sale
• The vicarious liability of an employer for the delicts of employees
• Some terms of a contract may be tacit
• BCLR's eldest employee celebrates 90th birthday

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 1/2007

• Options and Rights of Pre-Emption
• Puffs, Representations and Terms of a Contract
• The Sorry Tale of the Buyer at an Auction whose Lawyers got it all wrong
• Exclusionary Clauses in Contracts

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2006

• Appeal and review
• Don't sign a lease without having it scrutinised
• The diversion of a corporate opportunity is a breach of fiduciary duty
• Recovering the assets of an insolvent company for distribution to its creditors
• Cessions in securitatem debiti

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 3/2006

• A court can order that an individual is personally liable for a company’s or close corporation’s debts
• Beware of the domicilium clause in a contract
• Use your negotiating strength to secure a written acknowledgement of debt
• Proving causation when suing for damages
• A skillfully drafted contract can give you the right to cancel if the other party does not fulfil his promises

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 2/2006

• The enforceability of an agreement to reach an Agreement in the future
• Damages for breach of contract
• Protect yourself before entering into negotiations
• The importance of retaining ownership in Property until you have been paid

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 1/2006

• Think carefully before acting if someone breaches a contract
• A notarial bond over movables is a useful form of security
• Is a landlord liable for damages caused by his tenant’s negligence
• Does a restraint of trade agreement with employees lapse on the sale of the business?

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2005

• A fundamental difference between partners and shareholders
• Signing a contract without reading it
• The perils of prescription
• Are you allowed to withdraw from a partnership?
• The hazards of a “Draft Agreement”

BCLR/MJS Step Ahead Newsletter No. 4/2004

• The court can order a plaintiff company to provide security for the Defendant’s legal costs in litigation
• Purchasing property for the purpose of reselling it at a profit is a taxable “scheme Of profit-making”
• Preserving an assessed tax loss
• The separate legal personality of a company or close corporation
• Can a company, once “dead”, be brought back to life?
• The duty of good faith owed by an employee to the employer