Adverse Parties

Adverse parties are the individuals, companies, or other entities on the opposing side of a legal matter. South African law firms are required to maintain records of adverse parties to identify conflicts of interest before accepting new instructions — if your firm has previously acted for (or against) a party, you need to know before you take on a matter that could create a conflict.

HeyKazi maintains a firm-wide adverse party registry where each party is recorded once and linked to the matters in which they appear. When a party is linked to multiple matters, the system surfaces this information to support conflict checking.

Adverse parties require the conflict_check module to be enabled for your organisation. Contact your administrator to activate it.

Key Concepts

Party Types

Each adverse party is classified by entity type, which determines which identification fields are relevant.

Type	Badge	Description
Natural Person	Grey	An individual. Identified by SA ID number.
Company	Blue	A registered company (Pty Ltd, Ltd). Identified by company registration number.
Trust	Purple	An inter vivos or testamentary trust. Identified by trust registration number.
Close Corporation	Teal	A close corporation (CC). Identified by CK number.
Partnership	Amber	A partnership of natural persons or entities.
Other	Grey	Any entity that does not fit the above categories.

Relationships

When an adverse party is linked to a matter, you specify the nature of their involvement.

Relationship	Badge	Description
Opposing Party	Red	The primary party on the other side of the matter (defendant, respondent, counterparty).
Witness	Grey	A witness who may testify in the matter.
Co-Accused	Amber	A co-accused in criminal or disciplinary proceedings.
Related Entity	Blue	An entity related to one of the parties (subsidiary, holding company, connected person).
Guarantor	Teal	A party who has guaranteed obligations of another party in the matter.

The Adverse Party Registry

The registry is the firm-wide list of all adverse parties. It is accessible from the Adverse Parties page under the Legal section in the sidebar. Each entry shows the party name, ID number, registration number, entity type, and the number of matters they are linked to.

The registry supports:

Search — find parties by name across the entire registry
Filter by type — narrow the list to a specific entity type (Natural Person, Company, Trust, etc.)
Link to Matter — link an existing party to a new matter directly from the registry
Delete — remove a party that is not linked to any matters

An adverse party cannot be deleted while it is linked to one or more matters. Unlink it from all matters first before deleting.

Adding an Adverse Party

Step 1 — Open the Adverse Parties page

Navigate to the Adverse Parties page from the Legal section in the sidebar. Alternatively, open a matter and go to the Adverse Parties tab.

Step 2 — Click Add Party

Click the Add Party button to open the creation dialog.

Step 3 — Fill in the details

Complete the form:

Name (required) — full legal name of the individual or registered name of the entity
Party Type (required) — select the entity type from the dropdown
ID Number — South African identity number for natural persons
Registration Number — company, CC, or trust registration number
Aliases — alternative names, comma-separated (e.g. trading names, maiden names)
Notes — any additional context about the party

Step 4 — Create the party

Click Create Party. The party is added to the firm-wide registry and can now be linked to matters.

Linking an Adverse Party to a Matter

There are two ways to link an adverse party to a matter.

From the matter detail page

Step 1 — Open the Adverse Parties tab

Navigate to the matter and select the Adverse Parties tab.

Step 2 — Click Link Adverse Party

Click the Link Adverse Party button.

Step 3 — Complete the link form

Adverse Party — select the party from the registry dropdown
Client — select the client associated with this matter
Relationship — choose the relationship type (Opposing Party, Witness, Co-Accused, Related Entity, or Guarantor)
Description — optionally add context about the nature of the link

Step 4 — Link the party

Click Link Party. The adverse party now appears in the matter’s Adverse Parties tab with the specified relationship badge.

From the registry

Open the adverse party registry, click the actions menu on a party row, and select Link to Matter. This opens a similar dialog where you choose the matter, client, and relationship.

The Matter Adverse Parties Tab

The Adverse Parties tab on a matter’s detail page shows all parties linked to that matter. Each row displays:

Party Name — the registered name from the adverse party registry
Relationship — a colour-coded badge showing the relationship type
Description — any additional context provided when the link was created
Linked — the date the party was linked to this matter

Each row has an actions menu with an Unlink option that removes the party from the matter without deleting the party from the registry.

Conflict Checking

The adverse party registry is the data foundation for conflict-of-interest checking. When a party is linked to multiple matters across different clients, this creates a potential conflict that should be reviewed before accepting new instructions.

The number in the Links column on the registry table shows how many matters each party is connected to. A party linked to more than one matter warrants a closer look — particularly if the matters involve different clients.

The combination of a firm-wide registry with matter-level linking means that adverse party data is centralised and searchable. When a prospective client names the opposing party in a new matter, you can search the registry to see whether that party (or a related entity) appears in any of your existing matters.

Tips and Best Practices

Register early — add adverse parties as soon as they are identified, ideally at matter intake. This maximises the value of conflict checking for future matters.
Use aliases — if a party is known by multiple names (maiden name, trading name, shortened form), record them as aliases so searches catch all variations.
Be specific with relationships — distinguishing between Opposing Party, Witness, and Related Entity gives better context when reviewing potential conflicts.
Record ID and registration numbers — name matching alone is unreliable. ID numbers and registration numbers provide definitive identification.
Review links before closure — the adverse party record persists after a matter is closed, continuing to support conflict checks for future matters.

Conflict Checks — the planned conflict check feature will use adverse party data to automate screening
Projects — adverse parties are linked at the matter (project) level
Customers — linking requires selecting the client associated with the matter