Contingency Fees Act, 1997 (Act No. 66 of 1997)

1. Definitions

Purchase

In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates—

"contingency fees agreement"

means any agreement referred to in section 2(1);

"day"

means a court day;

"legal practitioner"

means an attorney or an advocate;

"normal fees"

in relation to work performed by a legal practitioner in connection with proceedings, means the reasonable fees which may be charged by such practitioner for such work, if such fees are taxed or assessed on an attorney and own client basis, in the absence of a contingency fees agreement;

"proceedings"

means any proceedings in or before any court of law or any tribunal or functionary having the powers of a court of law, or having the power to issue, grant or recommend the issuing of any licence, permit or other authorisation for the performance of any act or the carrying on of any business or other activity, and includes any professional services rendered by the legal practitioner concerned and any arbitration proceedings, but excludes any criminal proceedings or any proceedings in respect of any family law matter;

"professional controlling body"

(a)	in respect of an attorney, means any body established by or under any law for the purposes of exercising control over the carrying on of the business of the attorneys’ profession, and of which such an attorney is a member;

(b)	in respect of an advocate, means any body which is determined by the Minister of Justice by notice in the Gazette for the purposes of this Act, and of which such an advocate is a member.