Professional background and experience:

Schalk holds a B Proc degree from the University of Pretoria (1978) and an LLM in Tax Law from the University of Pretoria (2001), together with a Certificate in Advanced Corporate Law (cum laude) from UNISA (October 2011). He was admitted as an attorney in 1979, as a conveyancer in 1980 and as a notary public in 1985, and is a qualified real estate agent, a Principal Property Practitioner with a Fidelity Certificate and a registered tax practitioner. He co-founded VFV Attorneys in Pretoria in 1980, served as partner for more than four decades and currently acts as a consultant in property and commercial law. Schalk also serves as a board member of various property development and investment companies and has for many years been engaged in transactional, advisory and dispute matters involving corporate compliance, commercial contracts, trusts, partnerships and property development and conveyancing.

Mediation experience and style:

Schalk is a Conflict Dynamics accredited mediator (2018/2019) with substantial practical mediation experience, having acted both as independent mediator and as legal representative for parties in numerous mediations. He routinely mediates disputes arising from commercial transactions, property development and conveyancing matters, partnership and shareholder conflicts and trust-related disputes. His mediation practice is settlement-focused and pragmatic, designed to reduce the time and cost associated with litigation by avoiding technical or procedural delays. He adopts a neutral, facilitative style that combines deep substantive legal knowledge with an understanding of negotiation dynamics and creative problem solving, emphasizing efficient processes that limit delay and legal costs while safeguarding procedural fairness. Schalk is familiar with and experienced in meeting the requirements and expectations of the Pretoria High Court mediation protocol and is comfortable conducting mediations in both English and Afrikaans.

Facilitation experience and style:

Beyond one-on-one dispute mediation, Schalk has extensive facilitation experience in legal education, stakeholder consultation and project coordination. He has acted as project coordinator on commercial and residential property developments and has been involved as lecturer for the Pretoria Attorneys Association in conveyancing principles and property law for conveyancing support staff at junior and senior levels. His facilitation approach promotes constructive engagement among participants, drawing on substantive legal expertise to frame issues, manage stakeholder dynamics, and encourage collaborative problem-solving. He places emphasis on clarity of process, practical outcomes and ensuring that all participants understand the legal and commercial implications of settlement options.  He understands and promotes out-of-the-box thinking to obtain practical solutions for the most complex of legal problems.

Chairing and investigations experience:

Schalk has significant experience chairing enquiries, disciplinary hearings and investigatory panels. He serves as a member of the panel of the Legal Practice Council for Disciplinary Hearings and frequently acts as chairman, conducting proceedings impartially and efficiently. He has also convened and been a member of the drafting panel appointed by the Minister of Justice for Notarial Admission Examinations, and is frequently engaged as an expert witness in High Court conveyancing disputes. He has also served as member of the Governing Bodies of a number of schools, as trustee for numerous governing bodies of sectional schemes and director of Home Owner Associations.  In these roles he has demonstrated capacity for procedural oversight, complex decision-making and maintaining fairness and integrity in both regulatory and investigatory settings.  He understands and promotes out of the box thinking to obtain practical solutions for the most complex of legal problems.

Comments from clients:

“Schalk remains one of our most trusted legal advisors and attorneys.”

“Schalk has at all times conducted himself completely professionally with the utmost integrity.”

“His mediation skills have been invaluable to us, and his advices have been reassuring to all parties that their interests have all been taken into account, while he has always maintained his impartial and objective stance.”

“There have been very difficult matters to resolve and he has stepped in and drafted important opinions for our stakeholders, boards and shareholders which formed the basis for decision-making and resolution of problems.”

“Schalk has consistently demonstrated the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct”.

“His ability to remain impartial, communicate effectively, and facilitate constructive dialogue was particularly evident when he successfully served as mediator in a complex commercial dispute between shareholders”.

“Schalk has continually proven himself to possess the judgment, interpersonal skills, and balanced perspective required to serve effectively as a mediator.”