Fees, Disbursements and Recovered Costs: How the Money Works When Your Claim Succeeds
When a personal injury claim succeeds, the client’s statement of account will show more than the attorney’s fee. It will also show disbursements: amounts the firm paid out along the way to prove the claim. Clients are sometimes surprised by these deductions, and it is a fair question to ask what they are, why they […]
Why the Court Orders a Trust When a Child Is Awarded Damages for Medical Negligence
When a medical negligence claim brought for a child succeeds — most often in cerebral palsy matters arising from complications at birth — the court will usually order that the award be protected, generally through the creation of a trust. For many parents this comes as a surprise, and sometimes as a source of real […]
Can the RAF Force Claimants into Mediation? Full Bench Hears Landmark Challenge
This week the Pretoria High Court sat as a full bench to hear one of the most consequential RAF cases in years: a challenge by the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association (Pipla), which represents some 600 attorneys and advocates acting for road accident victims, to the Road Accident Fund’s directive making mediation a compulsory precondition […]
How to Claim from the Road Accident Fund: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident in South Africa – as a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist – you may be entitled to compensation from the Road Accident Fund (RAF). This guide explains, in plain language, how a claim works from start to finish. Who can claim? Anyone injured in a […]
SCA Strikes Down the Amended RAF 1 Claim Form: Claims Revert to the 2008 Requirements
Case note: Road Accident Fund and Others v Legal Practitioners’ Indemnity Insurance Fund, NPC and Others (1106/2024; 1479/2024) [2026] ZASCA 63; [2026] 2 All SA 489 (SCA) (30 April 2026) On 30 April 2026 the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed, with costs, an appeal prosecuted by the Road Accident Fund against a decision of the […]
High Court Blocks Department of Health’s Bid to Use Public Healthcare Instead of Damages Absent Proof It Will Work
News & Articles High Court Blocks Department of Health’s Bid to Use Public Healthcare Instead of Damages Absent Proof It Will Work The Eastern Cape High Court recently heard argument in the matter of AQ obo IQ v MEC for Health, Eastern Cape, where the Department of Health attempted to argue that it could compensate […]
