Mirror of Justice

Getting a Construction Lawyer -When And Why

July 11th, 2009 at 02:55pm Under Construction Law

In today’s economy, more people have found it beneficial to do much of their own building when it comes to their house. Even when they aren’t doing their own building, however, it’s still often preferable to oversee the work being done on a daily basis.

This is especially true when it concerns the legal side of things, and when this is true, it may be time to get a construction lawyer. This article will touch upon a few of the more common instances in which having a construction lawyer will benefit you greatly.

First, any form of construction that you will do, including digging of plumbing and foundations, will fall under the civil aegis of construction law. This law is very specific as to how low you can dig and how high you can build, for instance.

This too is determined by the area that the building will take place. Zoning laws are very different in commercial, residential, and semi-commercial (mixed) zones, as well as in different city and county. Due to the complexity of this fundamental issue, a construction lawyer is highly recommended.

The reason for this is that a construction lawyer will know all of the proper and most expedient channels to getting permits and gaining the time of an on-site inspector, to name but a few sticky bureaucratic instances. This last subject, inspectors, is very important as there are a limited number of inspectors for each county or municipality and until they arrive to do their inspection and certify you for the next phase of building, all construction must stop.

Further, let’s say that you’ve hired contractors to do your building for you. There are numerous clauses that you may not think to include in your contract, and others that the construction lawyer of the contractors will include, and which may prove to be pitfalls for you if unaware of them. (This can include clauses detailing allowance for the contractors to make certain lengthy -and costly for you, delays; of unfair overtime charges; and of the contractors not being responsible for certain types of mistakes that they might make -all of which will be legal catastrophe for you.)

An even more serious problem would be if the contractor or sub-contractor sues you, for whatever reason. This is common amongst an unprincipled minority of contractors who will sue you if they themselves anticipate being sued, in hopes that they can scare you away from forcing any legal indemnity upon them. To make things worse, for a job which they have botched, and which you refuse to pay for, they can actually place a lien on your home. However, just having a construction lawyer will dissuade most dishonest contractors from even considering such shady actions.

As you can see, there are many pitfalls involved in building, whether from the ground up, in upkeep, or in remodeling. Notwithstanding this, there is no reason to fear or defer such building plans. Simply put, fear-based decisions will get you nowhere, whereas having a construction lawyer will put your house on the map.

Banking Law in South Africa

July 9th, 2009 at 08:52pm Under Banking Law

Banking law in South Africa is effectively defined by the 1990 Banks Act and simply covers exactly what a bank is allowed or not allowed to do in the normal course of business.

There are a myriad of other complex bytes of legislation that pertain to South African banking law but these are often so multifaceted that expert advice is required from specialist banking law attorneys. Examples of added legislation that governs South Africa’s banking law are:

Leading Cape Town law firms offer a range of services pertaining to banking law, including advice on BEE specifications, advice on the acquisition of certain assets, leveraged and acquisitions finance, debt capital market and corporate bonds, structured finance, foreign representation, takeovers, insolvency and banking, and financial services regulation.

Although banking law varies from country to country, there are a number of instruments and requirements that are applicable across the board, including:

In this day and age when leading international banks are hitting the skids, the objectives of banking law are all the more important. There are five primary objectives:

1. To be prudent with a depositor’s money by reducing the risks bank creditors are exposed to

2. To avoid the misuse of banks by criminal elements

3. To protect the confidentiality of banking and banks

4. To direct credit to preferred sectors

5. To ensure systematic risk reduction