TERMS AND CONDITIONS (Fourth Version - 1st July 2023)

  1. DEFINITIONS

    “Company” – means Senekal Simmonds Inc;

    “Client” – means the person, institution, or entity contracting with the Company for the rendering of legal services;

    These Terms and Conditions should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Letter of Engagement for Services which is available at the Company’s offices for inspection in normal working hours, in the event that such Letter is not provided to the client. These Terms and Conditions shall apply to any and all relationships the Company has with clients and shall continue until all rights and obligations of the parties hereto have been extinguished.

  2. SCOPE OF REPRESENTATION

      Included in our services are, inter alia, the following, which will vary in accordance with the nature of the lawsuit/matter we have been appointed in respect of:

    1. Consulting with a client relating to the lawsuit/matter.
    2. Considering and perusing the source documents provided relating to the lawsuit/matter.
    3. Drafting the necessary pleadings in the event of a lawsuit, or attending to instructions in the event of a matter not lawsuit related.
    4. Corresponding with our opponent, if applicable, via letters, emails and telephone calls.
    5. Appointing third parties, be it correspondents, sheriffs or tracing agents, to render their services should the matter require it.
    6. Briefing advocate/s in the event that High Court appearances are required.
    7. Attending to court appearances on a client’s behalf in the event of Magistrate’s Court matters, or brief an advocate should the matter require it and given regard to cost considerations.
    8. Attending meetings with opponents or other parties involved in the lawsuit/matter.
    9. Corresponding with clients regularly to update them on the status of the matter.
    10. Attending to any other matters in executing the instruction from clients, insofar as the Company is able to do so.

      11. Not Included in the scope of our representation relating to this matter/lawsuit, are:

    11. Appeals from any judgments or orders of the court, as appeals are subject to separate discussion and negotiation between the Company and client.
    12. Services a client may instruct the Company to render in connection with any other matter, action, or proceeding, not specifically envisaged herein.
    13. Services a client may instruct the Company to render in connection with this matter, that in the event of a lawsuit, extends beyond the granting of an order by the court, and includes, for example, attending to a taxation of a bill of costs or executing a writ of execution in the event of non-payment of a bill of costs.

      14. (These are merely examples and are not exhaustive of the issues that may occur after the granting of a court order, not specifically catered for herein).
      Our services relating to this lawsuit/matter will further end when an order has been made by court or a final agreement of settlement has been reached in the event of a lawsuit, alternatively in the event of a matter, when the Company’s instructions have been executed relating to such matter.

  3. FEES, UPFRONT DEPOSITS AND ACCOUNTS
    1. The Company’s accounts are based on time spent on the client’s lawsuit/matter, which includes all correspondence, be it in the form of emails, letters or telephone calls. Hourly rates for each of the attorneys, professional assistants, candidate attorneys, or directors of the Company differentiate. The client undertakes to familiarise himself/herself/itself with such rates. The rates per hour are exclusive of VAT and subject to change annually, unless otherwise informed in writing by the Company.
    2. The Company does not extend credit, unless otherwise agreed to in which event a credit agreement will be concluded. Deposits are payable to the Company prior to an instruction being executed by the Company on behalf of a client. The Company reserves the right to stop conducting further work on a client’s matter should there be any funds outstanding to the Company, or to pend commencing with work on behalf of a client, if the requisite deposit has not been paid.
    3. Invoices will be forwarded onto clients monthly, which invoices will contain a description of the work conducted and services rendered, and will include a reference to the date, individual attending to the work, and a description of the task accomplished which amounts reflecting on the invoice, are immediately payable.
    4. Invoice amounts not settled within 30 (thirty) days from the date of invoice will accrue interest at a rate of 1.5% (one and a half percent) monthly.
    5. Fees, disbursements and VAT will be payable to the Company irrespective of whether a client’s lawsuit or matter succeeds or not, or has the desired effect the client anticipated it to have, or not.
    6. The Company shall at its own instance be entitled to produce a certificate signed by the director of the Company substantiating the amount which is due and payable by the client to the Company. The certificate shall constitute prima facie proof of the allegations and figures stated therein, and the client shall bear the onus of disproving the content and figures reflected on the certificate. The client acknowledges that such certificate shall be valid and in force for the purpose of summary judgment proceedings.
  4. ASSIGNMENT OF WORK
    1. Once a client has provided the Company with an instruction, the Company will allocate the instruction to the appropriate individual employed by the Company to deal with the matter. The services to be rendered to the client are therefore not necessarily limited to one individual or the attorney the client consulted with.
    2. It is the client’s duty to familiarise himself/herself/itself with the hourly rate of the individual working on the client’s file.
  5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND DISCLOSURE
    1. The Company undertakes to act loyally towards its clients and not represent any party in litigation against such client. The Company also reserves its rights to accept instructions from clients and will not accept instructions to represent a potential client in the event of such representation leading to a known conflict of interest. The Company shall not be held liable, or said to have been negligent where an alleged conflict of interest exists which does not fall within the Company’s knowledge. The party alleging the conflict of interest has to make the Company aware of it in writing, until which time the Company will be deemed to not have knowledge of the alleged conflict of interest.
    2. The Company shall abide by the Rules of the Law Society insofar as it relates to Client Confidentiality and undertakes not to disclose any of the information provided, or which may come to the knowledge of individuals employed by the Company whilst working on the lawsuit/matter of a client, except to the extent that it is necessary for the execution of the duties and obligations as legal representatives of the client.
    3. Any information which may be of a confidential nature obtained from a client may be disclosed by the Company to its professional advisers, agents, employees, and consultants only for the purposes of rendering the services it is appointed to do by the client.
      1. Is known to or was in the possession of the Company prior to disclosure thereof by the client;
      2. Is or has become publicly known;
      3. is disclosed by the Company to satisfy the order of a court of competent jurisdiction or to comply with the provisions of any law or regulation in force from time to time; provided that in these circumstances, the Company shall advise the client in good and sufficient time to take whatever steps it deems necessary to protect its interest in this regard; provided further that the Company will disclose only that portion of the information which it is legally required to disclose and the Company will use its reasonable endeavours to protect the confidentiality of such information to the widest extent possible in the circumstances;
      4. Is disclosed to a third party pursuant to the prior written authorisation from the client.
    4. The confidentiality obligation of the Company shall not apply to any information that.
  6. TERMINATION OF SERVICES

      The Company maintains the right to terminate its relationship for the engagement of services with a client, on the grounds set out hereinafter:

    1. When payment of the fees owing to the Company are not made as in accordance with the terms as stipulated herein.
    2. When there is a lack of instructions which is required to continue with the lawsuit/matter.
    3. When the client acts contrary to the advice provided by the Company.
    4. When the client fails to provide sufficient funds for disbursements when requested to do so.
    5. When a conflict of interest arises that cannot be avoided, mitigated, or resolved.

      6. The Company is entitled to exercise a lien (a right of possession) over all the documents and monies held on a client’s account until full payment of the outstanding fees have been made. Should a client in this instance appoint a new legal representative, the Company will release all the documents to such new legal representative upon either receiving payment of outstanding fees owing to the Company, alternatively upon the client’s new legal representatives undertaking to protect the Company’s right over such client’s documents, for outstanding fees.

  7. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

      Should the client’s instruction to the Company relate to, or result in litigation, it is of relevance that the client is aware of the following:

    1. The estimate for costs provided by the Company relating to the anticipated legal fees to be incurred, is dependent on numerous factors, including, inter alia whether the litigation matter of the client proceeds to trial or not. If the matter is settled prior to proceeding to trial, the Company’s fees quoted for litigating a matter will be correspondingly lower, depending on the lapse of time between the matter being settled and the anticipated court date.
    2. Should it be necessary, the Company will instruct experts, translators, or third parties on the client’s behalf and with the client’s approval. The costs associated with such experts, which are also disbursements to the Company, will be payable by the client either upon presentation of the Company’s invoice which reflects the expert’s account, (as the expert will render its account to the Company which will in turn render an account to the client), or at any time prior to the use of the expert’s services by the Company, as soon as the Company requests such payment in advance from the client.
    3. The client acknowledges the risk associated with litigation insofar as cost orders are concerned. For clarification, the client agrees that he/she/it is aware that it faces the risk of having to pay the other litigating party’s legal fees. Should this scenario occur for any reason whatsoever, these fees will be payable to the other litigating party’s attorneys in addition to the Company’s fees and any disbursements associated with the litigation.
    4. The client acknowledges that should he/she/it be successful in litigation, and the court makes an order for costs in the client’s favour, that the client will not recover 100% (one hundred percent) of the legal costs he/she/it incurred, but only a portion thereof as determined by the taxing master.
    5. To allow the Company to prepare for a trial, it requires any and all documents in existence associated with the matter. The client is to refrain from deliberately destroying documents (including electronic documents) relevant to the issues in the matter that are in its possession, custody, or power. If a party is found to have deliberately destroyed documents to ensure that these documents are out of reach of the other party in the litigation, the court may strike out that party’s claim if he/she/it is the Plaintiff, or defence, if he/she/it is the Defendant. For this purpose the client acknowledges and agrees to inform any individuals in the client’s organisation to preserve documents until instructed otherwise. Should the client not be certain as to whether a document is relevant or not, the client agrees to contact the Company’s offices and enquire.
    6. Should the litigation be in the High Court, the Company will appoint an advocate to argue the action on the client’s behalf, irrespective of whether the client is the Plaintiff or the Defendant. The advocate’s fees will be discussed with client in advance, and as same constitutes a disbursement, the Company will require the upfront payment thereof. The client is entitled to nominate an advocate to attend to the matter on the client’s behalf, in the absence of which nomination the Company reserves the right to appoint any advocate it deems fit for the relevant matter.
    7. Should the action for litigation not fall within the jurisdiction of Johannesburg, or within an 8 kilometer radius from the courthouse, the Company will be obliged to appoint a correspondent firm to attend to service and filing of documents on the client’s behalf. Such correspondent firm’s costs for rendering services to the Company relating to the client’s matter, is also a disbursement payable by the client to the Company.
    8. Should the action for litigation not fall within the jurisdiction of Johannesburg, or within an 8-kilometre radius from the courthouse, the Company will be obliged to appoint a correspondent firm to attend to service and filing of documents on the client’s behalf. Such correspondent firm’s costs for rendering services to the Company relating to the client’s matter, is also a disbursement payable by the client to the Company.
  8. COMPANY LIAIBILITY
    1. While the Company seeks to maintain a high standard of suitability, integrity and reliability insofar as the services rendered to the client is concerned, the Company shall not be held liable for any loss or damage, direct, indirect or consequential, of whatsoever nature caused to, or sustained by the client in the event of:
      1. an order being made against a client by a court, arbitrator or any relevant institution; or
      2. an undesirable result for the client.
    2. Insofar as the use of this website is concerned, the Company shall not accept any liability for any damages suffered in any way whatsoever, be it direct, indirect, or consequential, as a result of the use of or access to the website. The Company does not make any representations or guarantees regarding the content hereof. The Company can further not guarantee the correctness of the information provided on the sites of the links on the Company’s website and will not be held liable for any damages suffered of any nature whatsoever, associated with or as the result of reliance being placed on the information provided by the websites linked to that of the Company.
    3. This website is for information purposes only and the Company cannot guarantee the correctness of the information contained therein.
  9. POPIA ACT
    1. This Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) Disclaimer describes how the Company collects, processes, and discloses your personal information.
    2. For the purposes of this Disclaimer, personal information shall bear the same meaning as defined in POPIA.
  10. YOUR RIGHTS IN TERMS OF POPIA ACT

      As the information owner you have the right to:

    1. Inquire about what personal information the Company holds relating to you.
    2. Request for a correction or to update your personal information.
    3. Object to the processing of your personal information (subject to legislation).
    4. Request the return or destruction of personal information (subject to legislation).
    5. Your rights in this regard may be exercised by contacting us on kleynhans@sesi.co.za. You further have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe we are interfering with the protection of your personal information.
  11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IN TERMS OF POPIA ACT
    1. While we take all reasonable measures and precautions in protecting your personal information, the Company will not be held liable for any loss or damage, howsoever arising, suffered as a result of the disclosure of your personal information, if the harm suffered is outside of our reasonable control.
    2. You hereby acknowledge that you have read and accept the terms of this POPIA Disclaimer.