Q. Why can’t I simply refer to my payment terms in my invoice? A: This is a common practice but not recommended. Legally speaking, it’s too late to share your payment terms at this stage, as the contract has already been concluded or...
Ask Louis-the-Lawyer about contracts
Q. What happens if I do not have a signed contract with my customers, which includes terms and conditions, and we have a dispute? A: The most important thing is to at least have terms and conditions (T&C). The lack of a signed contract is not...
The need for clear terms & conditions
Advocate Louis Nel, also known as Louis-the-Lawyer, shares some pointers about what to consider including in your company terms and conditions. Given the flurry of legal issues around COVID-19 and its impact on business, it seems there is a much...
Social media & defamation Part 5 – material (‘matter’) must be defamatory
This is the last article in the series on social media and defamation. You can read the previous articles here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. So far I’ve dealt with the following requirements in order to prove defamation: (1) reference to the...
Social media & defamation Part 4 – wrongful (‘unlawful’), blameworthy, fault & public policy
Before you read this article, make sure you have read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series. Having established intention, what is the next requirement? The following has to be established in order to determine whether or not we are dealing with...
Social media & defamation Part 3 – intention to defame (Animus Injuriandi)
Before you read this article, make sure you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. This is a challenging requirement and much debated. It would seem that the courts will sometimes go beyond intention and find that negligence or at least...
Social media & defamation Part 2 – what must be proved & who has to prove it (burden of proof)?
Before I deal with the Terms & conditions (‘T&C’) e.g. Facebook, etc, I think we need to get to grips with defamation and to do so we need to ‘unpack’ (1) the definition I used in the first article, (2) potential damages (claims) and then...
Social media & defamation Part 1 – tread warily!
As we are all no doubt quite aware, social media has to a large extent become the medium of choice not only to publicize and disseminate information but also to glean information. Due to the ubiquitous nature of the social media and the fact that...
Chapter meetings: Excuses and the return on time of association meetings
Excuses Time – more often than not the primary reason or excuse of parties not attending such meetings is that they are too busy and simply don’t have the time. Strange enough, I find that they are often the same people who will say that they don’t...
The value of association meetings
Louis Nel outlines what one gets from chapter meetings One of the main tasks for associations is to arrange regular get togethers, networking and feedback sessions. Well of course networking is a topic on its own and more on that in further...
Understanding the Protection of Personal Information Act
As most of us are aware the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) has been around for a long time but it is eventually coming to fruition and should become law later this year. It is a new act that brings South Africa in line with...