Session hosted by ThinkLegal, and presented by Fair Practice

As a legal practitioner are you asking yourself “why mediate”?
Are you referring your clients to mediation but still feel uncertainty about the process?
Do you think mediation might not be appropriate for the dispute?
Do you find that legal practitioners are unaware of the process and benefits of mediation?

If you can relate to any or all of these questions, then you should attend our 1-hour webinar.

Explore a fresh approach to dispute resolution that combines assertiveness with cooperation. Join our exclusive 1-hour seminar on Mediation Advocacy to discover how to harness the power of collaboration without compromising your assertive negotiation skills.

Why Mediation Advocacy Matters for legal practitioners:
• Broaden your skill set by incorporating negotiation and mediation techniques into your practice arsenal.
• Gain insights into incorporating collaborative elements into your current mediation practice.
• Discover how collaboration can enhance negotiation outcomes while maintaining your client’s best interests.
• Broaden your legal toolkit by integrating mediation advocacy into your practice.
• Explore innovative methods to navigate disputes with a focus on collaboration and resolution.
• Foster positive relationships with opposing parties and colleagues through collaborative mediation advocacy.
• Position yourself as a lawyer who can balance assertiveness with cooperation for sustainable resolutions.
• Gain insights into applying collaborative techniques to resolve complex legal disputes.
• Discover how mediation advocacy can lead to creative solutions that benefit all parties involved.
• Understand how collaboration can strengthen your negotiation strategy and improve client relationships.

About the Presenter:

Veerash Srikison is an admitted advocate and the founder of Fair Practice, a dispute resolution services organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been involved in the practice of ADR since 2010.

She is a Harvard trained mediator and negotiator and has presided as a judge in Civil/Commercial Mediation and Negotiation competitions globally. She is a cum laude graduate of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa in Alternate Dispute Resolution and is the lead trainer for Fair Practice, AFSA and SA Legal Academy in mediation skills training.

Her Mediation Skills training program is nationally accredited through the South African Board of People Practices (SABPP) and internationally accredited by the prestigious International Mediation Institute (IMI). To date Veerash has trained over 500 professionals in mediation and negotiation skills.

The Ombudsman for Banking Services is advising South Africans to be aware of their rights when it comes to dealing with financial institutions. The Ombud’s Reana Steyn spoke with eNCA’s Anlie Hattingh. Courtesy of #DStv403

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Website: mayaonmoney.co.za

When should you consider debt counselling?
Even before lockdown, many people were finding it difficult to meet their debt repayments and facing the prospect of defaulting. Once you are in default the collection and legal fees mount and debt that you were already struggling to repay could easily double. You could even risk losing your car or home.

One of the options available is debt counselling where you select to go under debt review and are protected against legal action by creditors.

A debt counsellor provides a court-issued agreement stipulating the repayment plan. Consumers make one affordable, payment each month, to an independent Payment Distribution Agency (PDA). This in turn is distributed to the creditors as per the agreement.

Once under debt review you may not apply for any credit until all the debts, as per the court order, are settled. Once settled, the debt counsellor will issue a clearance certificate confirming that all the accounts listed under the agreement are paid up. Home loans are the exception and do not need to be fully paid up, but must be up to date. The debt counsellor must ensure that the credit bureaus receive the certificate.

While there are many satisfied customers in debt counselling, there are just as many who have had a negative experience. Make sure you are working with an ethical provider who is a member of the Debt Counsellor Association of South Africa or the National Debt Counsellors Association.
When working with a debt counsellor make sure they create a repayment plan that can be settled within five years. This can be done if the debt counsellor negotiates lower interest rates with the creditors.
According to the National Debt Counsellors Association reputable debt counsellors use an industry standard called the Debt Counselling Rule Set or DCRS that allows them to negotiate significant interest rate reductions on consumers’ debt.?
For unsecured lending such as personal loans and credit cards, DCRS allows for renegotiation of the interest rate as close to zero percent as possible. This is a significant saving on credit agreements that can have interest rates as high as 23%.
Debt counselling can be a great solution, but do your homework before you enter any agreement as once the agreement is in place, you are legally bound to it.

This TDM Special Issue aims at analysing the current scenario that mediation faces in the context of insolvency matters, as well as new trends, developments, and challenges.

Guest Editors: Prof. Laura Carballo Piñeiro and Prof. Katia Fach Gómez

Table of Contents and Free Excerpt available at:
https://www.transnational-dispute-management.com/journal-browse-issues-toc.asp?key=74

The Mediation of Bankruptcy Disputes in the United States
by A.L. Gropper

The Role of Mediation in the New EU Approach to Insolvency
by L. Galanti

Mediation in the Context of (Approaching) Insolvency: A Review on the Global Upswing
by N. Pavlova Mocheva, World Bank Group
A.R. Shah

Mediation in Formal and Informal Insolvency: A Greek Perspective
by E.S. Papadimitriou

The Role of Mediation in Japanese Insolvency Practice
by S.I. Abe

The Three Targets of Insolvency Mediation: Dispute Resolution, Agreement Facilitation, Corporate Distress Management
by P. Lucarelli, I. Forestieri

Mediation as A Path to Business Restructuring – Contributions to the Portuguese Insolvency Framework
by A.F. Ferreira Colaço da Conceição, C.F. Marques Cebola

The Role of Mediation in Refinancing Groups of Companies: The Case of Spain
by M. Flores

The Insolvency Mediation in the Spanish Law
by C. Senés Motilla

Out of Court Payment Agreement. A Sui Generis Mediation in Insolvency Matters in Spain
by G. García-Rostán Calvín, S. Tomás Tomás

A Deliberation on Adapting Aspects of Singapore’s Mediation Initiatives Within the Australian Federal Court’s Practice to Further Improve the Liquidators’ Recovery of Assets
by C.F. Symes, J.F. Fitzpatrick

Determinants of Failure … and Success in Personal Debt Mediation
by J.J. Kilborn

Non-Performing Loans Prevention in Italy: Early Warning Indicator and Negotiation – Mediation in Bankruptcy
by G. Matteucci

The Effect of Insolvency on International Mediation – The European and Spanish Perspectives
by M. Penadés Fons

Choice of Law aspects of Mediation in Cross-Border Insolvencies within the European Legal Framework
by M. Asgharian

It’s easy to get caught in a debt trap. Even the best-laid plans can go awry when the unexpected happens – and that can have dire effects on your debt repayment plans. Maya Fisher-French explains what debt counselling is and when it becomes necessary in order to avoid being blacklisted.

Watch Money Matters here: https://www.enca.com/shows/money-matters-maya-fisher-french

A consumer can apply for debt review if they are unable to meet their debt commitments. However, in some cases, a consumer’s finances may improve and they wish to exit. Whether or not you are able to exit will be determined by where you are in the process. Financial journalist Maya Fisher-French explains the process. Courtesy DStv403.

From the authors of the national bestseller 13 Bankers, a chilling account of America’s unprecedented debt crisis: how it came to pass, why it threatens to topple the nation as a superpower, and what needs to be done about it.
 
With bracing clarity, White House Burning explains why the national debt matters to your everyday life. Simon Johnson and James Kwak describe how the government has been able to pay off its debt in the past, even after the massive deficits incurred as a result of World War II, and analyze why this is near-impossible today. They closely examine, among other factors, macroeconomic shifts of the 1970s, Reaganism and the rise of conservatism, and demographic changes that led to the growth of major—and extremely popular—social insurance programs. What is unquestionably clear is how recent financial turmoil exacerbated the debt crisis while creating a political climate in which it is even more difficult to solve.