A vast amount of uncertainty exists as to the validity of certain marriages entered into in terms of the Black Administration Act 38 of 1927, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 and marriages concluded subsequent to 1 December 1988. The purpose of this talk is to provide more clarity on these Acts, as well as case law and directives issued on this thorny issue.

Allen West was the Chief of Deeds Training from 1 July 1984 to 30 September 2014 and is presently a Property Law Consultant at Tonkin Clacey Pretoria Attorneys in Pretoria.

Allen West

He is the co author of numerous books on conveyancing and has published more than one hundred articles in leading law journals. He also regularly posts articles on Ghost Digest. Allen is also a lecturer extra ordinary at the University of Pretoria and a moderator and consultant of Conveyancing subjects at Unisa. He has presented courses for the LSSA (LEAD) since 1984 and has served on the following boards: Sectional Title Regulation Board, Deeds Registries Regulation Board, and Conference of Registrars, as well as numerous other related committees.

Allen was the editor of the South African Deeds Journal (SADJ), since its inception until September 2014.

Sharpening the axe.” The challenges facing the legal profession are slowly starting to affect South Africa – quite a few years after the rest of the world.  The good news is that we can learn from their experiences. Chris will provide some practical advice on how firms can use technology to meet these challenges.

Chris Pearson

Chris Pearson is a director and shareholder of the company, responsible for new business development and based in the Cape Town office.

Before joining AJS in 2009, Chris was the managing director of Korbitec Solutions, responsible for the management of sales and support in South Africa. While at Korbitec, Chris was responsible for overseeing a number of the new initiatives introduced into the Korbitec Group including products such as GhostConvey, WebConvey, and Windeed, and this gave him a great deal of experience when it comes to the selection of viable new business ventures.

After studying marketing in Port Elizabeth, Chris began his career as a salesperson with Sharp Electronics. While there, the company released its first PC’s, and in addition to selling the new hardware Chris was also required to develop software applications, since there were no off the shelf software products back then. This, along with the sales and support roles of both hardware and software gave Chris an excellent understanding of the technology business. At age 22 Chris was a co-owner of one of the first Apple and IBM PC dealerships in South Africa, which was later sold to the Data Age Group of Companies.

Chris is married to Jenny, and they have two grown children. His interests include walking on Table Mountain, open camping in the African bush, and before he was side-lined by a knee injury, he enjoyed playing a variety of sports including hockey, squash, tennis, cycling and golf. In Chris’ own words “I play a lot of golf, but not very often”.

When in doubt, Innovate!: a session on using legal solutions design and data analytics to drive efficiency and grow client relationships.

In his talk, Rico Burnett will get practical and bring to life how using 1) alternative resourcing models and 2) data management and analytics can give you a competitive advantage. We will cover tips, tricks and traps in the changing world of legal services.

Rico Burnett

Rico Burnett is passionate about bringing people,  ideas and technology together. He creates opportunities for innovation to take  root and thrive in corporate environments. Rico trained in the South African  offices of DLA and Linklaters with a focus on Technology, IP and Diligence.  Rico has spent several years building end-to-end M&A solutions for  clients.  An advocate for best practice in Contract, Data and Risk  Management, Rico believes in exploring opportunities and creating  networks.  He is married, and father to three small children.

An attorney’s biggest enemy is RISK. It’s unavoidable, but can be managed  on a daily basis, with appropriate risk management tools.

Risks has the potential to wipe out an entire estate and can leave you empty handed, even after years of hard work. This presentation will make you aware of the  services   of the LPIIF and give you some TIPS on how to manage risk in your office.

Henri van Rooyen

Henri van Rooyen , B Proc LLB, Attorney, Notary and Conveyancer. He practiced in Welkom in Litigation  and Conveyancing for 32 years . He served on the Law Society of the Free State for 25 years  and was President from 2008 until 2010.He also served on the management committee of the Law Society of SA  and was co-chair from 2009 until 2010. He joined the Legal Practitioners Indemnity Insurance Fund as Practice Support Executive in February 2019. He is a keen cycad collector and loves his  4x4 excursions. Still married to his first wife , Marie ,  they have three children and 2 grandchildren.

The Legal Practice Act is seen by many legal practitioners as a disruptor in the legal profession.  It changes the structures and the way in which the legal profession has conducted business for many years.  In his talk, Krish will provide a general overview of the current status quo of the implementation, challenges faced with the implementation and an update on Section 35.

Krish Govender

Krish has a BA (Law), B Proc, and was admitted as attorney of the Supreme Court in 1976.

Mr Krish Govender, has a BA (Law) and B Proc degree.  Krish was admitted as an attorney of the Supreme Court in 1976, and worked in private practice as a community based lawyer and activist until June 1998.   Krish retired in 2012 as Director of the State Attorneys Office in KZN.

Krish has served the Legal Profession in various areas for more than 40 years.  Is currently a member of the Legal Practice Council.

Being familiar with the small law firm environment, Krish understands the challenges faced by many small law firms today.

Ahmore is a director at Werksmans Advisory Services and the Head of the Data Protection & Privacy practice group. She extensively advises local and international clients on all aspects of regulatory compliance with specific focus on competition law and data privacy in various sectors.

Ahmore Burger-Smidt

She regularly undertakes compliance audits and oversees the implementation of compliance programmes and is the principle driver of the Werksmans risk assessment and e Learning tools as well as the co leader of the Werksmans Dawn Raid Team. Ahmore is a regular convenor, speaker and participant at local and international conferences and seminars on competition law and data privacy. Prior to joining private practice, Ahmore was Deputy Commissioner and headed the Enforcement and Exemptions Division of the South African Competition

Social Media & its Impact on the Workplace – an Overview of Recent Case Law.

Many employees fail to appreciate how comments, pictures, and/or videos posted and reposted on their social media account/s (whilst on or off duty) have the potential to detrimentally impact the workplace, and that such conduct can lead to their discipline and/or dismissal.

Karabo Tshabuse

Karabo Tshabuse is an associate in Bowmans’ Johannesburg office and a member of the Employment and Benefits practice group.

Karabo has experience in advisory work, reviewing and drafting legal documents, court process and appearance work. She advises on and has expertise in a number of labour law areas, specifically dismissals, unfair labour practices, conditions of employment, employment contracts and policies, and employee benefits. Karabo also has a keen interest in Social Media Law and its impact on the workplace.

Karabo has two degrees, a BA degree - majoring in Media Studies and International Relations, and an LLB degree (which she attained cum laude), both from the University of the Witwatersrand.

BEE is an essential part of doing business in South Africa and we are moving into the next era of empowerment. Imagine BEE was an investment that generated a traceable return to your business objectives through the establishment of new markets, new investment opportunities and created new drivers of domestic demand.

Ismail  Laher

Ismail is the managing director of the fund manager NPI Capital Partners in addition to being a corporate, mergers and acquisitions advisor and BEE advisor. In his role as a lawyer, Ismail has advised on and assisted with various commercial transactions including corporate M&A structures and restructuring, drafting agreements (e.g. sales of shares and sales of business, loans, service and supply transactions, property sales and leases, shareholders and association agreements), franchising arrangements, licensing and corporate administration. Ismail also regularly advises both local and foreign clients on the BEE in South Africa and is an accredited “Certified Empowerment Technician”.

BEE is an essential part of doing business in South Africa and we are moving into the next era of empowerment. Imagine BEE was an investment that generated a traceable return to your business objectives through the establishment of new markets, new investment opportunities and created new drivers of domestic demand.

Isreal Noko

Israel L. Noko (LL.B, PGCert) is the Founder and CEO of NPI Governance Consulting, a leading B-BBEE Advisory and ISO9001 accredited consultancy. He passionately supports B-BBEE and social entrepreneurship as he believes it is the cornerstone of economic transformation in South Africa. His focus is on developing and executing ‘business sense’ transformation strategies that lay the foundation for organisations to transform organically. Over the past decade, Israel has built a wealth of knowledge across most business sectors in South Africa and has a solid reputation as an accomplished professional in the B-BBEE Arena.