2020 volume 4 p 846

• Date: 14 October 2020
• Published date: 14 October 2020

TSAR 2020 . 4 [ISSN 0257 – 7747]

846 VAN ECK

A FRAMEWORK FOR PROFESSIONAL DUTIES AND THE

LIABILITY OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERS IN THE PAYMENT OF

TRUST MONIES

Fourie v Van der Spuy & De Jongh Inc 2020 1 SA 560 (GP)

Jurgens v Volschenk 2019 JOL 45047 (ECP)

1 Introduction

The digital age has changed t he manner of doing business in many positive ways,

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digitisation has also int roduced new risks to commercial trade. Busine sses are now

faced with almost daily threats of malware att acks, ransomware, ph ishing emails,

cyberattacks, d ata breaches and dat a theft (adapted from the Inte rnational Bar

Association Cybersecur ity Guidelines October 2018 1 19 https://www.ibanet.org

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the two recent cases of Jurgens v Volschenk (2019 JOL 45047 (ECP)) and Fourie v

Van der Spuy & De Jongh Inc (2020 1 SA 560 (GP)). In both of these cases the emai l

communication with clients was comprom ised and client monies were fraudulently

solicited from attorney t rust accounts.

The attorneys in the Jurgens and Fouri e cases were found liable to repay client

monies that had been incorrectly tran sferred as a result of so-cal led hacked email

correspondences. T he courts’ use of the term “hacked” is not necess arily the correct

description of what happened in these two cases. A hacker exploits weaknesses in

computer infrastructure to gain access to data and information illegally (Minnaar

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combatting the ‘new’ cybercri minals” 2014 Acta Criminologica: Southern African

Journal of Criminology S pecial Edition Research and Application in Cr iminology

and Criminal Justice 127 132). In the Jurgens and Fourie case s a third party ma naged

2020 TSAR 846

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