12 Dec Attorney as Mediator: Conflict of Interest or Conflict Resolution Catalyst? Analysing the benefits and ethical risks of lawyers serving as mediators.

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Attorneys who mediate can be either conflict‑resolution catalysts or walking ethical landmines. Whether they play one role or the other depends not on the mere fact of their admission as legal practitioners but on how they manage and disclose relationships, compartmentalise roles, preserve confidences, and observe the regulatory and ethical architecture that governs South African legal practice. The Legal Practice Act and the profession’s regulatory instruments require integrity, competence and the avoidance of conflicts. Court practice and recent decisions likewise place mediation within an ethical and procedural frame that both encourages settlement...