Without Prejudice - Volume 11, Issue 10, November 2011

In a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal it was confirmed that special damages for loss of profits cannot be claimed by way of a defamation action. The effect of this decision is that businesses wishing to recover alleged financial losses caused by harmful statements published in the media will find it more difficult to prove their cases by way of an ordinary delict claim.

Fraud and corruption are extremely topical in South Africa given the many companies that have been adversely affected by it. Often blame is placed on the banks and yet, more often than not, internal procedures, or a lack of these, enable corrupt employees to commit this crime with amazing ease. In particular, electronic fraud (EFT) has become rife and one of the greatest ongoing risks. EFT fraud is basically the illegal transferring of funds from one bank account to another.

The judgement in Oosthuizen v Road Accident Fund (258/10) [2011] ZASCO 118 (July 6 2011) serves to emphasise the importance of instituting action in the right court. A wrong decision could cost the plaintiff's attorney dearly.

It is every divorced and single parent's nightmare : the abduction of a child. In most cases one thinks of abduction as when a complete stranger runs off with a child. However, it is far likelier that the other parent abducts the child. When that parent lives abroad, it can become traumatic.

When undertaking pro bono work, attorneys have to establish whether or not applicants for legal aid have disabilities. The question appears on Law Societies' Pro Bono Scheme application forms (for statistical purposes) and requires practitioners to ask, often in a language which is not the applicant's first language, if he or she experiences challenges with vision, hearing or mobility, accompanied with the appropriate supportive communication (for example gestures, facial expression or written language).

Dead babies in buckets and other horrors recently made newspaper headlines illustrating the unspeakable condition of some state mortuaries. The reports concerned morgues in the Eastern Cape in particular and they were so well-researched and compellingly written that they led to high level intervention to improve mortuary and post mortem services in the province. However, the poor state of these facilities has had serious legal consequences as well - in a case involving prominent Eastern Cape doctors.

Against the background of the increasing number of injuries sustained in rugby matches at all levels, the Western Cape High Court delivered a judgement on May 4 in which it considered the question of whether a willing participant in a sporting code may be said to have consented to the risk of sustaining injury.

Imagine you are the driver of a large tanker truck driving downhill on the highway at about 70 km per hour. You see a car approaching you in its correct lane. As you take a closer look you realise that the driver of the car is fidgeting behind him and looking backwards and forwards intermittently in quick succession. Yet he is driving in his own lane and there is no indication that he would move into your truck's lane. Are you obliged at this point to take any steps to prevent a possible collision? Can you be seen as negligent if you do not?

On August 3 2011 the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Request for Qualification and Proposals (RFP) for new generation capacity under the Independent Power Producers (IPP) procurement programme.

Genetic material provides an important source of information which can assist in the development of foods, medicines and products that can improve life. All living organisms, including plants, animals and micro-organisms possess genetic material that can be useful to humans.

The National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill was published for comment in August .

The world in October : international

Tales from the US of A ... : international

The counterfeiting phenomenon has been on the increase since the 1980s and the quality of offending goods has also improved. Along with the increased spread of counterfeit goods (commonly known as knock-offs) the range of goods subject to infringement has expanded significantly. In R v Johnstone, Lord Nicholson noted that counterfeit goods and pirated goods are big business, accounting for between 5% and 7% of world trade.

Instead of explicitly stating what constitutes a patentable invention, the South African Patents Act provides an exclusionary list stating what shall not be considered "an invention" for the purposes of the Act.

News reports tell us daily of major intellectual property (IP) disputes. One example is the current battle between Apple and Samsung, relating to Samsung's Galaxy 10.1. The conflict began when Apple sued Samsung in April in the United States, alleging that the Samsung Galaxy range of smart phones and tablet devices "slavishly" copied the design, user interface and packaging of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung has countered with its own lawsuits accusing Apple of violating its intellectual property.

Foss-Harbottle J : In this unfortunate matter, Mr Knight sues his daughter Miss Knight (an appropriate name as it turns out) for the long-term effects of sleep deprivation caused by her when she was an infant. The plaintiff is one of those unrealistic people who think that children should be seen and not heard. What he wanted, he said, was an heir apparent only. His daughter's first three years of causing him sleepless nights have, he claims, caused him chronic insomnia and an addiction to late night television which is about as bad as addictions can get. He wants compensation.

... The essence of becoming a great lawyer is realising that it isn't about you.

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This is hard... after all, after the law degree, law school, training, qualifying, trying to make your way, putting up with partners behaving like four-year-olds and working your socks off... of course it should be about you!

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... but it isn't.

A colleague of mine in the UK recently asked whether I could connect him with career officials at universities in the US. Happy to assist, I made a few introductions to individuals with whom I am not regularly in contact. The first respondent thanked me and offered to speak with him. And, then she noted that my e-mail had prompted her to ask whether I would consider returning to the school in the next academic year. Opportunity made. No fancy tools. No Twitter followers. Just simple sincere engagement - period.

When Odysseus in Greek literature left for his journeys, he entrusted the care, education and guidance of his son Telemachus to Mentor, a loyal adviser and teacher.