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Family and Divorce law in South Africa - A Comprehensive Guide
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Divorcing husband suing wife’s lawyers for alleged fanatical litigation

10/29/2015

 
Lawyer Sharks
Statistics suggest that close to 98% of divorces settle out of court. For the unlucky few who can only obtain finality and closure with the aid of attorneys, lawyers and judges, the journey is long, tortuous, and expensive. A divorcing husband who claimed his wife’s attorney ran up its legal bills with unnecessary discovery and irrational legal claims won’t be able to pursue his lawsuit alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty a Supreme Court in the USA found. 

The husband alleged the litigation strategy of his wife’s attorney was to “build its fees and harass and injure” him by “pursuing unreasonable legal positions, demanding extensive and unnecessary discovery, promoting and claiming outrageous asset valuations, raising claims without proper foundation … and billing excessive time.”

The attorneys had billed $800,000 in legal fees in a marital estate worth about $15 million. The husband contended that the attorney had an improper motive to engage in protracted and vexatious litigation to build fees that would be paid through the marital estate.

The Supreme Court said the husband failed to establish elements of a fraud claim and that he also failed to establish that he acted in reliance on a misrepresentation of material fact. The husband’s breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim failed because an attorney owes no duty to an adverse party, the court said. The husband argued that the attorney owed a duty to the marital estate, but the argument had no merit, the court said.

The case, although conducted in the USA brought vital issues to the forefront of the legal community globally, including how law firm practices and policies that result in excessive billing impact on both parties to a divorce, deplete resources from marital estates, and compromise the integrity of the judicial process in this area of family law.

While one may be disappointed by the decision, the case brought light to a serious problem facing litigants, attorneys, and our courts.

As a family law attorney one’s goal with any client should be a favourable and cost-effective outcome. The prime hindrance to such a goal is the attorney who litigates to litigate, files applications of no potential value, seeks unnecessary discovery of remote or irrelevant information, encourages animosity and hostility, and drives up the costs to the attorney's benefit, and to the parties' detriment.

The problem is huge in family law, because the clients are unsophisticated legal consumers, are scared and/or angry, and can be easily convinced of the need to declare war. These are the same attorneys who dump a client when he or she is tapped out and can't fund the circus litigation anymore.


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  • Home
  • Divorce
    • The Reasons for Divorce
    • The Divorce Process in South Africa
    • Rule 41A Mediation
    • The Marital Property Regimes >
      • Marriage out of Community of Property, new case
      • Marriage in Community of Property
      • Marriage out of community without accrual >
        • Understanding Post-1984 Marriages
      • Marriage out of community with the inclusion of the accrual
      • Anti-Dissipation Interdicts Divorce
      • Universal Partnerships
      • Antenuptial Contracts
      • Register Antenuptial Contract Online
      • Changing your matrimonial regime.
      • Postnuptial Contracts
    • Division of Assets at Divorce >
      • Forfeiture of Assets in a Divorce
    • Evicting your spouse divorce
    • Retirement Funds and Divorce
    • Living Annuities
    • Hiding Assets in a Divorce
    • Trusts and Divorce >
      • Can I hide assets in Trust?
    • Divorce a Missing Spouse
    • Adultery and Suing a Third Party
    • Domicile in Divorce Cases
    • International Divorces in South Africa
    • Expat South African Divorce
    • International Jurisdiction
    • Spousal Visas
    • International Divorce Law >
      • UK Divorce Laws
    • Choosing a Divorce Attorney
    • On-line Divorce
    • Lawyer Fees and Costs
    • Important Aspects of a Divorce
    • Divorcing a Narcistic Spouse
    • Dealing with Emotions During Divorce and Separation
    • Divorce Statistics
    • Divorce Therapy and Counselling >
      • Marriage and Relationship Therapists
    • Rebuilding Your Financial Life
    • Divorce Attorney Cape Town
    • Ingredients of a successful relationship
    • What are the elements of a successful marriage?
    • Uncontested Divorce
    • Uncontested Divorce - What Happens on the Court Day?
  • Maintenance
    • Spousal maintenance
    • How to calculate Child Maintenance?
    • Maintenance Defaulters
    • What Happens if you don't pay child maintenance
    • Child Maintenance Frequently Asked Questions
    • Rule 43 Interim Maintenance Pending Divorce >
      • Can I appeal a Rule 43 Order
      • Apply for Costs in Rule 43
      • Financial Disclosure Rule 43
      • Rule 43 Maintenance
    • The Maintenance Manual
    • Grand Parents and Maintenance
    • Variation of Maintenance due to loss of employment
    • Contempt of Court Maintenance
  • Children
    • Section 28 of the Children's Act
    • Relocation and Child Abduction >
      • Frequently Asked Questions about Child Relocation
      • Child Relocation to New Zealand
    • The Hague Convention >
      • Child Participation in South African Family Law and the Hague Convention
      • International Child Custody Law South Africa
      • Hague Applications and Domestic Violence
      • Mirror Orders and the Hague Convention
      • Tips on international child custody
    • Unmarried Parents and the Law
    • Unmarried Fathers Rights
    • Parenting Plans >
      • Parenting Plan
      • Conflict and dispute-resolution mechanisms
    • The non-custodian parent and contact
    • Appointing a Guardian in a Will
    • Introducing a new partner to your child
    • Refusal of Contact
    • Suspending Parental Rights
    • The Law on Grandparents Rights over Children
    • Parental Alienation >
      • Alienating Children
      • Parental Alienation Imprisonment
      • What is the effect of Parental Alienation on children?
    • Living Arrangements
    • What effect does divorce have on children?
    • The Voice of the Child in Divorce
    • Facilitation
    • Joint decisions about your child
    • Paternity Disputes
    • The Family Advocate
    • Parenting during separartion
    • Children's Act 38 of 2005
  • Abuse
    • Domestic Violence Legislation and Case Law
    • The New Domestic Violence Act 14 of 2021
    • Gender Based Violence in South Africa
    • Domestic Abuse Forms
    • Evicting a Spouse
    • Being married to a Narcissist.
    • Divorcing an Abusive Spouse
    • What is Coercive Control?
    • What is Emotional Abuse
    • What is Sexual Abuse
    • What is Financial Abuse >
      • Economic Abuse
    • What is Stalking
    • What is Verbal Abuse
    • What is Spiritual Abuse
    • What is Social Abuse
    • Revenge Porn
    • Interdict Intimate photos
    • Steps to obtain a Protection Order
    • Domestic Violence eBook
    • The Protection Order
    • Who Qualifies for a Protection Order
    • Breaching a Protection Order
    • Questions on Domestic Abuse
    • Signs of an Abusive Relationship
    • Domestic Violence Information
    • Harassment >
      • Harassment Forms
  • Cohabitation
    • Universal Partnerships in South African Cohabitation
    • Maintenance and Cohabitation
    • Interim Maintenance and Cohabitation
    • Sample Cohabitation Agreement
    • Engagement and the law
  • Formalities for marriage in south africa
    • South Africa's New Marriage Bill: A Step Towards Equality and Inclusion
    • Same Sex
  • Family Law eBooks
  • Family Law Links
    • The South African Court System
    • Court Rolls
    • Family Law Legislation
    • Family Law Blog
    • New Family Law Cases
    • Register for the Online Family Law Course
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Charities