Litigation and dispute resolution

This service is for businesses, founders, directors, property clients, creditors, and individuals facing a dispute that may require demand correspondence, negotiation, urgent escalation, court process, enforcement, or settlement strategy. It is best suited to matters where the client needs a practical view of prospects, evidence, cost, urgency, and enforceability before deciding how hard to press.

1. Commercial breach, payment, shareholder, director, supplier, and customer disputes.
2. Demand letters, settlement proposals, undertakings, and default notices.
3. Urgent applications, interdicts, rescission, enforcement, and opposed motion support.
4. Pleadings, affidavits, evidence bundles, chronology building, and procedural strategy.
5. Cost exposure, prospects, settlement leverage, and enforcement economics.

1. Attorney analysis of the facts, documents, cause of action, procedural posture, and available relief.
2. Demand strategy, settlement correspondence, without-prejudice positioning, and litigation preparation within mandate.
3. Evidence review, chronology construction, pleadings or affidavit support, and enforcement route planning.
4. Practical assessment of prospects, urgency, costs, recoverability, and business consequences.

1. Advice before conflict checks, onboarding, and written mandate acceptance.
2. Guarantees of recovery, judgment, settlement, urgent relief, or enforcement outcome.
3. Counsel fees, sheriff fees, court filing fees, correspondent fees, tracing, travel, and other disbursements unless expressly included.
4. Court appearances or full-scale litigation conduct unless specifically mandated.

1. Names and details of all parties for conflict checks.
2. A short chronology with dates, deadlines, and current procedural status.
3. Contracts, notices, invoices, pleadings, correspondence, payment records, and proof of delivery.
4. The outcome wanted, settlement limits, commercial constraints, and urgency.
5. Existing attorneys, advocates, court dates, case numbers, undertakings, or settlement communications.

1. Conflict check and urgency assessment.
2. Evidence review, chronology, and procedural risk assessment.
3. Written strategy recommendation with cost and enforcement considerations.
4. Mandated drafting, negotiation, application, pleading, or enforcement work.
5. Delivery of next-step advice, drafts, correspondence, or litigation plan.

Responsible attorney

Gerhard Human

Last reviewed

2026-05-22

Area of law

Civil litigation, Dispute resolution

1. Prescription, dies induciae, court dates, return dates, or contractual deadlines may be close.
2. Evidence may be incomplete, oral, disputed, or held by the opponent.
3. The opponent may be insolvent, judgment-proof, evasive, or commercially irrational.
4. The cost of proving the case may exceed the recoverable value.
5. Urgent relief is not available merely because a matter feels urgent. Legal urgency must be assessed.

No outcome is guaranteed. Advice depends on the documents, facts, timing, legal position, opponent conduct, and the scope accepted in writing.

This page is general legal information for South African context. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Work begins after conflict checks, FICA where required, scope confirmation and written mandate acceptance.