You are a director of a company entering into a good, sensible property deal which you have researched thoroughly. So when you need finance from the bank and the bank says “sure, your company can have a R5m loan, just sign this personal suretyship here”, you sign.

It’s only when everything falls apart down the line and the bank sues you personally for R5m, that you desperately start looking for ways to get out of your suretyship. We discuss a recent High Court case illustrating one of the very limited escape routes that may be available to you.

Our names are important to us, not only in a deeply personal sense but also in a multiplicity of practical and legal situations.

So think carefully about what surname you want to use if as a woman you are getting married or divorced, or are widowed. 

The choice itself is by law your own personal one to make, but we’ll have a look at what exactly those choices are, at the practicalities involved, and at how this all affects men. 

Our courts are not gentle with employers who contravene our labour laws, particularly in cases of automatic unfairness and unfair discrimination. A recent Labour Court decision involved an employee who was summarily dismissed for misconduct after a disciplinary enquiry, despite being diagnosed with depression. 

The outcome is a reminder to employers to tread with extreme care in cases where misconduct may be linked to some form of mental disorder or disability. We discuss the facts, the Court’s findings, and the mistakes the employer made…

You are owed a fortune by a debtor who turns out to have nothing in his own name. But you find out that there are plenty of assets in his family trust, and you suspect that they are in fact his assets, hidden away from creditors like you. What can you do about it?

A recent SCA judgment revolved around a creditor’s R11m loss to a cattle dealer’s Ponzi scheme. The dealer committed suicide leaving debts of R35m, and when his deceased estate was declared insolvent, the creditor applied to sequestrate the dealer’s farm-owning trust. We have a look at why that line of attack failed, and at what the creditor should have done instead…

We lead increasingly hectic lives, and in the business world in particular we desperately need to find efficient and effective ways to maximise our health. 

Probably the best and easiest way of achieving that is to set up and follow a good, healthy daily routine. Routines are great – no decision-making, no stress, just do it. The challenge is finding our way through all the contradictory noise out there about what’s really good for us and what isn’t.

We point you to a Business Insider article with lots of science-based insights and tips on setting up a healthy and sustainable daily routine.