Professional background and experience:

Chrisna Bekker has been an advocate and member of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates since 2017. She has an LLM degree (Commercial and Business Law) from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an M.A. degree (Political Science) from the University of the Free State.  She also has tertiary qualifications in Communication Science and French. She is accredited as a commercial mediator by Conflict Dynamics (South Africa) and CEDR (United Kingdom). She is an associate and prospective fellow of the Association of Arbitrators of Southern Africa. Chrisna has a broad civil litigation practice, including matters of commercial and company law, administrative law, labour law, restraints of trade, unlawful competition, and child law. Her interest in mediation arises from her background and interest in communication and language sciences, politics and international relations, and human relationships and –stories in general.

She is proficient in Afrikaans, English and French.

Mediation experience and style:

Chrisna has conducted mediations in a variety of areas. She works hard at creating an informal but respectful environment so that parties can work together towards reaching an agreement. She has been commended by parties for her calm but controlled approach in mediation.

Comments from clients:

“Chrisna created a calm and constructive environment, making us feel confident and supported throughout. It was clear she had the best interest of all parties at heart, and her professionalism ensured that negotiations were handled smoothly, without any unnecessary tension.”

“Chrisna made us feel welcome and at ease from Day One. She explained exactly what the process would be. She made it very clear that she would remain completely neutral, and that confidentiality was of importance. She made it her business to get some insight about our business, to have a better understanding of the negotiations. She was very patient in the negotiations, despite the long drawn out day going back and forth. She portrayed good hospitality at the venue. She remained very positive to see that both parties would walk away with a win-win situation after the negotiations. Once the agreements were in place, she repeated them to make sure both parties had no further dispute on the new contract. Overall, absolutely pleasant and polite at all times and displayed much joy for everyone at the conclusion.”