VDS Inc. is a boutique law firm founded by Nailah van der Schyff. The Firm is committed to providing excellence in specialised areas of law while maintaining the highest ethical standards, ensuring maximum and sustainable commercial benefit. Our philosophy is built around our clients demands and requirements making the Firm client centric.
Nailah has practised in various specialised areas of law throughout her comprehensive legal career. She gained invaluable experience as an article clerk at Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes, whereafter she worked at a small firm gaining extensive experience in employment and commercial law. At the age of 27 she partnered with a colleague to establish Davids and Partners, commonly known and as “the Woodstock Lawyers” where she gained most of her experience managing both a practice and servicing her clients to the extent that many of those relationships have developed into business partnerships.
Underpinning her duties as a legal practitioner, she focuses on select clients within commercial and employment law. As such, the entire instruction from meeting times and fees arrangements are all bespoke.
Nailah has 8 years Post Qualification Experience, holds an LLB degree as well as a Higher Diploma in Tax law from the University of Cape Town. She is also a registered Training Facilitator and a member of The South African Society for Labour Law.
Services
Commercial
We offer a full suite of corporate / commercial services including advisory, drafting and amending of various agreements including but not limited to:
Memorandums of incorporation; Shareholders agreements; Joint venture agreements; Buy and Sell Agreements; Partnership agreements; Asset for share agreements; Lease agreements; Corporate Governance policies; Sales and purchase agreements; Due diligence investigation reports;
Employment
We offer a wide range of services within employment law including but not limited to:
Contracts of employment; Policies and procedures; Chairing disciplinary hearings; Instituting disciplinary procedures; Restructuring and retrenchments; Negotiating terminations; Dispute resolution
Facilitation
We are passionate about training and development of our clients and its staff and offer a host of training workshops designed to enable management to understand and be able to deal with basic labour disputes. We also offer basic company law training to businesses.
Management
As part of our firms’ client centric philosophy, we offer management of a client’s legal portfolio including outsourcing of legal services and acting as liaison to ensure that there is one go to person in respect of all legal services clients require. In this regard, our partners who deal with other legal services can be found in the links below.
Davids and Partners: : Law firm specializing in Property, Wills and Estates, Matrimonial Law and notarial practice.
De Saude Attorneys Law firm specializing in South African Immigration and Citizenship law
DLH Consulting: Boutique consultancy providing corporate, commercial, and tax advisory services
Fees And T’s And C’s
In order to give effect to our client centric philosophy, we offer various fee arrangements to suit the client’s instruction and to ensure clients receive value for money suited to their legal requirements. Fees structures are therefore tailor made depending on the services required and are as follows:
- Project based
- Fixed fee: a set fee is agreed upfront for legal service(s) required in respect of a particular instruction. This arrangement ensure that you are not met with unexpected legal costs.
- Retainer: monthly invoices are generated at a fixed fee over a period of time, say 6 months, whereby this fixed fee is agreed in terms of a retainer fee agreement to assist clients to budget accordingly
- Time based: we charge an hourly rate for commercial and employment related dispute resolution based on, amongst other things, the type of matter and the complexity thereof and the forum in which the dispute is adjudicated.
- Contingency: in certain circumstance, where the merits are almost guaranteed in your favour, we enter into contingency fee agreements whereby we are only entitled to a fee (a percentage of what you are able to recover) if you are successful.
- Click here to view our terms and conditions.