Hinrichsen Attorneys

Due to Hinrichsen Attorneys ever expanding presence, and in accordance with client demands, we have established a Cape Town Branch which opened in March of this year. While our new office offers all of the same services provided by us nationwide, our Cape Town branch, managed by Elke Kiehm, specialises in family law and deceased estate administration. This includes -

The Sale Agreement Buying or Selling property is the biggest financial commitment most of us will ever undertake. It is thus very important that the Estate Agent and Attorneys are chosen carefully. The Estate Agent will explain the terms of the sale agreement to the parties - who must ensure that they ask questions and understand all the terms before signing the agreement. Once the agreement of sale is signed, it is a binding contract between the Seller and Purchaser. What are Suspensive Conditions? The Sale Agreement may contain "Suspensive Conditions". These are conditions which must be fulfilled before the transfer process can begin. The most common suspensive condition is the granting of a bond to the Purchaser. A bond is a loan of money to the Purchaser by a bank to enable him to pay the purchase price of the property, on security of the property purchased. It records that if the Purchaser fails to make the bond repayments, the bank will be entitled to sell the p...

When a company wishes to appoint a non-executive (or alternatively, a non-CEO) chairperson to oversee the board of directors, it is important to be cognisant of the guidelines set out in the the King Code on Corporate Governance for South Africa (The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa) September 2009 (otherwise referred to as "King III").

When one considers the relationship between directorship and employment, various unseen issues can arise.   One of the major aspects, that few business owners consider, is that a Director is also an employee, and therefore the laws that govern such an employee will also govern the Director in his or her capacity as an employee. This creates complications that are often overlooked. The central issue revolves around one person wearing two hats, being that of director and employee. Specifically, the question is whether such a person can resign as director whilst remaining an employee of the company.

In 2012, Dale Hinrichsen made the transition from being an advocate and member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates to becoming an admitted attorney. It was thereafter that Hinrichsen Attorneys was formed and begun its expeditious climb to becoming one of the highest regarded law firms on the West Rand. While Hinrichsen Attorneys, like most small firms, started out by applying its operations to all the general aspects of law, helping individuals with personal disputes and family law as well as aiding smaller companies with contract drafting, collections and general litigation. The first branch of specificity came in the form of mining law, whereby the firm developed a strong allegiance to an impressive array of mining experts and consultants. It was hereafter that the firm began to pursue more specialised fields, which served as a catalyst to accelerate its already exponential growth. Utilising the business world’s dire need for a world class corporate law firm on ...

Could your tattoo be an infringement of the law? In our modern day and age, tattoos have  become increasingly popular and the stigma that has been associated with tattoos in the  past seems to be fading with each passing year. In most cases, tattoos are designed by the  tattoo artist based on the client’s preferences; however, there have been many cases where  tattoos are simply copied and pasted, so to speak. It is these kinds of cases that brings me to the topic of tattoos and intellectual property in South Africa.

Applicable Legislation: The Companies Act 71 of 2008 -  Sections 66 – 78 1. Definitions The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (“Act”) defines a director as a -  “member of the board of a company, as contemplated in section 66, or an alternate director of a company and includes any person occupying the position of a director or alternate director, by whatever name designated.” According to sec 66 (1) -  “The business and affairs of a company must be managed by or under the direction of its board, which has the authority to exercise all of the powers and perform any of the functions of the company, except to the extent that this Act or the company’s Memorandum of Incorporation provides otherwise.” In addition to the above definitions, a director includes an ex officio director or a prescribed officer. An ex officio director means - “a person who holds office as a director of a particular company solely as a consequence of that person holding some other o...