Duty to act only on behalf of one party
An attorney may only represent one party in a divorce matter, unless he/she is instructed by both parties together.
In a recent court case of Retha Meiring Attorney v Walley1 an attorney had acted for party A against party B and thereafter agreed to act for party B against party A.
Substantial legal costs were incurred in this matter, in the sum of over R200,000.00, and the attorney was relying on a fee agreement signed by the client at the start of the case in order to recover the expenses incurred. One such expense was a trip overseas by both the attorney and her Advocate to consult, as one of the parties was overseas.
A complaint was lodged by the Defendant with the law society about conflict of interests as the attorney had previously acted for his wife, and was now acting for him. The court found that this was serious misconduct on the part of the attorney and that it is unacceptable for a practitioner to derive benefit from unprofessional conduct. The attorney could therefore not recover any costs.
It is important that an attorney always acts with the utmost integrity and never acts with the aim of sole personal financial gain, but always acts in the best interests of his/her client.
1. Retha Meiring Attorney v Walley Durban Coast Local Division Liebenberg J Case Number 11033/2004 2007 April 18-20; June 4
written by PM Baker, a Cape Town divorce lawyer.