Johannesburg attorney, Emile Myburgh, has won the 2017 LexisNexis Prize for the best article contributed by a practising attorney. The article was published in De Rebus in July 2017.

By Kgomotso Ramotsho

Johannesburg attorney, Emile Myburgh, has won the 2017 LexisNexis Prize for the best article contributed to De Rebus by a practising attorney. Mr Myburgh won best prize for his article titled ‘Holding delinquent directors personally liable’ published in 2017 (July) DR 29. The article discussed how a creditor can hold a director personally liable for unpaid debts owed to them by a company in light of the small but growing body of jurisprudence dealing with directors’ liability under the new Companies Act 71 of 2008.

Mr Myburgh said the importance of his research in regards to his article, is that creditors need not first liquidate a company before going after rogue directors. Mr Myburgh has won a Lenovo Tablet, as well as one year’s free access to one practice area of Practical Guidance. Mr Myburgh said he was stunned and very happy for being chosen a winner on his first ever article submitted to De Rebus.

Johannesburg candidate attorney, Alecia Pienaar, won the 2017 Juta Law Prize for best candidate attorney article for her article published in De Rebus in December 2017.

Johannesburg candidate attorney, Alecia Pienaar, won the 2017 Juta Law Prize for best candidate attorney article for her article titled ‘Overview of air quality regulatory developments’ published in 2017 (Dec) DR 38. Her article discussed how climate change has been on the agenda since 1993 when South Africa (SA) first became a signatory to the United Nations Framework. She said the ratifications of the Paris Agreement in November 2016 has introduced a spur of developments to the air quality regulatory regime. She added that the movement interlinks with the mitigation component of SA’s Intendent Nationally Determined Contribution, which commits to a peak, plateau and decline of greenhouse gas emissions trajectory range.

Ms Pienaar came to the conclusion that it is clear that there is a commitment to move towards a formally regulated climate change framework. Although progressive, the environmental law regime, and in particular the quality sector, is already defined by continuous proliferation of legislation. She said this will likely create numerous lacunas and ambiguities that industries will have to navigate across as they seek to bring their operations into compliance. Ms Pienaar added that she is elated and inspired as this serves as a reminder of the relevance of her chosen field of law and that there is value in consistently reading up and writing on legal development. Ms Pienaar won a tablet device and one year’s subscription to Juta’s online Essential Legal Practitioner Bundle worth R 25 000.

Kgomotso Ramotsho Cert Journ (Boston) Cert Photography (Vega) is the news reporter at De Rebus.

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2018 (March) DR 8.