Professional background and experience:

Patrick Deale is a Labour Lawyer and Commercial Mediator practising as Deale Attorneys with offices in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal. Patrick has worked in Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution for over 25 years in a wide range of industries and sectors and has successfully assisted many parties to resolve disputes in both business and employment environments. As a senior legal executive for a listed company, he gained first-hand experience of the issues business managers and employees deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Patrick co-founded Tokiso Dispute Settlement (Pty) Ltd, the largest private dispute resolution agency in South Africa, where he was a full-time CEO for six years. He is a highly skilled and experienced labour negotiator, mediator, arbitrator and facilitator. He is a commercial mediator, coach and assessor, accredited by Conflict Dynamics and CEDR (UK). 

He also serves as Acting Judge of the Labour Court. Patrick is the co-author of the Labour Relations Handbook, published by Juta, and has been a regular host of the Labour Line on Talk Radio 702.

Mediation experience and style:

Patrick has conducted many commercial and labour mediations. As a commercial mediator, Patrick has successfully resolved many difficult and complex disputes. These have included disputes about commercial contracts, business partnerships, property rights and sale agreements. Employment disputes, especially at senior management level are typically complex and involve high stakes for all parties. Patrick specialises in dealing with these disputes. He uses his experience in working with senior executives and in unionised workplaces to assist parties to find creative solutions to their problems.

Facilitation experience and style:

Many tough business disagreements can be resolved internally through the intervention of a professional Facilitator. Patrick has developed practical processes and special skills to work with business parties at all levels – from top executives to representatives in multi-party unionised environments – to reach common cause in complex situations. He has facilitated many successful processes in early and late-stage conflict environments, in a variety of sectors.

Chairing enquiries and investigations experience:

Allegations of misconduct or non-performance by executives, managers or employees in companies are often biased, unpleasant and complicated. Patrick conducts objective investigations into these kinds of allegations and prepares reports with recommended actions. He also acts as an independent chairperson of enquiries to determine outcomes that are fair and legally sustainable.

Comments from clients:

“Patrick is a brilliant mediator” - Andrew Goldberg, Attorney