It has long been held in our Court that where an attorney does not at qua attorney, his costs are not sunject to taxation by any authority ; he is not obliged to prepare a bill of cost and, furthermore, is not bound by any tariff. This does not mean that where there is no […]

It inevitably happens often in an action that a party may need to seek indulgence and due to various reasons. As happens often, especially in RAF claims, after the opinions of experts have been obtained, an amendment to the claim becomes necessary. The opposite, though rarely, also happens where a party at a later stage […]

Pre – litigation costs are in principle incidental to the proceedings and, depending on the circumstances, may be justifiably claimed in a party and party bill of cost. Parties to litigation face the quandary of assessing the merits, quantum and costs of their cases in advance. Appropriate assessment of these may lead to necessary activities […]

There is often the perception that the wording of a costs Order has a meaning that would entitle the successful party to recover costs beyond what is envisaged as between Party and Party and as prescribed in the tariff, whether it be High Court or Magistrates Court. On numerous occasions our Courts have made costs […]

The question that always arises in Insolvencies is : What scale to be applied. Is it Party and Party or Attorney and Client? It has been held that the Party and Party basis is wholly inappropriate as a basis upon which to tax the costs of an Insolvency and that the proper basis is an […]

Most attorneys and law firms don’t fully leverage the power of the Internet. They think of their website as an extended brochure that is placed in cyberspace to (hopefully) be stumbled upon by a prospective client.  Once the client finds the website, he is then bombarded by facts, figures and information about the ATTORNEY and […]

Some time ago Bills of Cost published in a newsletter to client’s the dreaded situation in respect of the recovery of costs in Rule 43 proceedings ( with specific reference to Rule 43 (7) & (8 )) and the potential devastating financial implications these extreme limitations placed on the recovery of Attorneys and Counsel’s charges […]

“The act of perusing or considering a document or letter should be held to mean the application of a trained legal mind to the contents of the document in question.” – Thornycroft Cartage Co v Beier & Co (Pty) Ltd & Another 1962 (3) SA 26 (N) “The fee for perusing is for the professional consideration […]

Parties embroiled in litigation often has to call on the expertise of their Counsel to consider the evidence at hand for trial purposes. The question that now arises is : Whether the costs of employing Counsel to consider and give advice on evidence is recoverable from the other side should a party be successful and be […]

As many Attorneys may be aware, the sometimes unavoidable Rule 43 proceedings that follow matrimonial proceedings can easily take up more of the Attorney and Counsel’s time than the actual divorce case itself. To add salt to the wound, the costs of conducting Rule 43 proceedings almost always exceed those of the divorce proceedings by […]