Professional background and experience:

Paul Pretorius is a senior counsel at the Johannesburg Bar. He has been in practice for 48 years and has been a senior counsel for 21 years. Paul's practice is general covering many arears of law, but particularly labour law, public law and commercial law. Paul was a founding member of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa in the 1980's. He has been involved in dispute resolution organizations and in mediation, arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution ever since. He is the editor of a publication on dispute resolution. He has written and lectured extensively on the topic. He has been trained in South Africa and abroad. He has given training in dispute resolution in South Africa.

Mediation experience and style:

Paul does not adhere to any particular mediation style. His mediation approach in any dispute depends on the stated needs of the parties together with his own assessment thereof. However, his default style is facilitative. Paul's intervention in dispute resolution has generally been well received. although not every intervention has resulted in an agreement, the results have invariably been positive.

Facilitation experience and style:

Under the auspices of IMSSA, Paul received training in Relationships by Objectives - a multi-party dispute resolution process. He has facilitated several such processes. Paul was also instrumental in introducing community mediation under the auspices of IMSSA. He has also facilitated several such processes, particularly during the 1990's. 

Chairing enquiries and investigations experience:

Paul has conducted labour arbitrations and disciplinary enquiries since the 1980's. He has litigated extensively in the field. He has presented papers, lectured and published in the field. He has presented papers, lectured and published in the field of workplace discipline, disciplinary enquiries and labour arbitration. He received training from U.S. experts in the field and ongoing training under the auspices of IMSSA. He lectures in the ADR course in labour arbitration presented by AFSA. His experience in investigations stems mainly from his role as evidence leader in the State Capture Commission where he worked closely with investigators, including forensic investigators, over a period of 4 years.

Coaching experience and style:

Given his experience in the field of dispute resolution generally, and as outlined above, Paul is able to coach and mentor in all fields of dispute resolution.