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OUR
FIRM

The legal practitioner firm KINGHORN ASSOCIATES INC. ("the Firm") has been established in September 1977 at Swakopmund. It has been in continuous existence for over 44 years. 

We at Kinglaw have been a cornerstone to the community for over 44 years. We were established in September 1977 at Swakopmund by former Namibian High Court Judge Johan Swanepoel and the late Herman Charl Kinghorn under the name Swanepoel & Kinghorn. Our thorough and reliable reputation systematically grew the firm, ensuring continued service excellence. With the addition of partners, and now current stakeholders and directors, Hilke Else Ahrens, Petrus Jacobus Burger, Hendriaan Visser, Cornelius Johannes De Koning, and Clifford Bezuidenhout we now practise as Kinghorn Associates Inc. 

 

Under the steady hand of our five directors who are all admitted legal practitioners, the recent and future growth opportunities prompted the partners to incorporate the firm into a professional private company early in 2023 now known as Kinghorn Associates Inc. Trading as Kinglaw. The incorporation allows us perpetual existence, seamless intake of future legal professional directors, and provides a structured environment for business operations so that you, the client, will be ensured uncompromised service at all times. 

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We now offer legal services from any one of our three full-time branches below:
Kinglaw Swakopmund in Haus Altona, No. 2-6 Tobias Hainyeko Street, central business district, Swakopmund.
Kinglaw Walvisbay is situated at Unit 2, The Chambers, No. 122 Theo-Ben Gurirab Street, close to the central business district, Walvis Bay. 
Kinglaw Windhoek in units 35 and 36 Tenbergen Village, c/o Robert Mugabe Avenue and Julius Nyerere Street, in close proximity to the Deeds Office, the High Court, the Auspannplatz area and the main business area of Windhoek. 


All client matters are dealt with by the legal practitioners in person, who maintain control and oversight over all matters, at all times.  We will render services in a manner that allows clients to be well-informed of the status of each matter, and receive unbiased and clear legal positions.
As the oldest coastal legal firm with over four decades worth of experience and an extensive, well-established client base spanning all areas of the law, we are well versed in the Namibian legal arena, and we understand of the mechanisms of the local economy and business. We have come to appreciate the challenges all participants in the economy face continuously and have built-up experience through sustained practice in the various fields of law. We have enjoyed longstanding, good, professional relationships with our clients during prosperous and less prosperous times, accumulating expertise over multiple years of servicing commercial, institutionalised and local authority clients, including commercial banks.


To serve such a wide range of customers effectively, we ensure that we have dedicated and knowledgeable experts to assist in your specific field. We employ complementary support staff members including personal assistants dedicated to the administration of estates and trusts. We also employ legal practitioners’ specialising in commercial, litigation and general practices as well as specialists, such as Ansonette Viljoen, dedicated Estate Practitioner. Our legal practitioners are capable and experienced, with additional academic qualifications to ensure service with in-depth knowledge of the law and the ability to integrate the main areas of law with commercial and corporate practice.  
Areas of expertise
 
•    Commercial law
•    Administrative law
•    Property law
•    Conveyancing 
•    Finance and securities law 
•    Labour law 
•    Debt collecting
•    Estate practice
•    Execution of deeds

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An example of our efficiency and reach is our high-volume dedicated collection department, attending to debt collecting for a variety of clients in both the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court. We do collections in the lower courts including Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Usakos, Karibib Omaruru, Windhoek, Otjiwarongo and Outjo and have further established correspondent relationships with legal practitioners assisting with litigation elsewhere, including Oshakati, Ondangwa, Tsumeb, Grootfontein, Mariental and Keetmanshoop.   


In our conveyancing capacity, we have both the experience and the capacity to reply to competitive service demands. Senior practitioners, Hilke and Clifford, are both qualified and respected conveyancers and notaries public of long-standing and have an in-depth knowledge of all spheres of conveyancing. 
As a firm with our client base in the economically active central coastal region of Namibia, our legal practitioners (not having the benefit of advocates in close proximity), have been confronted with, developed, and enhanced their knowledge in an assortment of legal fields. All our legal practitioners are active in litigation in the lower and superior courts in Namibia, including the High and Supreme Courts. 


We further have a lasting and well-established estate practice. We render estate planning, and the administration of estates and advise on the law of trusts. Our sound knowledge of the law of succession, including the customary law of succession is of great value to the lower-income group, whose members are often faced with complex inheritance issues concerning immovable property. To our knowledge, the we are one of the few, if not the only, legal practice at the coast that renders estate administration services to the lower-income group.


From developing labour policy and drawing documents for workplace issues, to matters of conflict in the workplace manifesting in investigations, industrial action and often discipline, we have the knowledge and capabilities to guide employers through these matters concerning their workforce. We have over the years earned the reputation of a firm well-versed in all major spheres of the law.


We are opposed to taking any shortcuts and dubious dealings and are fierce followers of transparent and fair play and as such, we maintain an impeccable record of professional independence and trustworthiness.


We believe in investing in our community, and our members actively participate in various community-based activities. Our legal practitioners are known to provide their services to local educational institutions in capacities such as advising, guiding and administering local private and public schools, all pro bono. This includes serving as active members and advisors of the governing bodies of the Swakopmund Primary School; Swakopmund Private School and Pro-Ed Academy. One of our community service initiatives is to provide internships to legal students to gain practical exposure and experience. 
We see ourselves as a unique Namibian boutique-style firm, where quality, integrity and exemplary work ethics are non-negotiable.
 

LEARN MORE ABOOUT THE DIRECTORS

HILKE ELSE AHRENS holds the degree B.Proc and LL.B and post-graduate diplomas in Tax Practice and Advanced Corporate Law and Securities Law. Hilke was admitted as a legal practitioner of the High Court of Namibia in 1991, as a notary public in 2001 and as a conveyancer in 2002. Hilke has vast experience in conveyancing, securities, commercial transactions and administrative law. She focuses on commercial law, property law and conveyancing, drafting of commercial contracts, the law of trusts, estate planning and estate administration, whilst also attending to High Court commercial litigation for selected private clients.

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PETRUS JACOBUS BURGER, Piet holds the degrees B.A., LL.B and LL.M (Mercantile Law) and a post-graduate diploma in Labour Law (Conciliation and Arbitration). After serving as a public prosecutor, he joined private practice and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 2003 and as a notary public in 2011. Piet’s practice encompasses commercial work, drafting of commercial contracts, conveyancing, public procurement, High Court commercial litigation, advisory and litigating in labour law, administrative law, administration of deceased estates and limited forensic investigative and criminal work. He has a special interest in labour law.

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HENDRIAAN VISSER was admitted as a legal practitioner in September 2013 and a notary public in 2021. She heads the Firm’s extensive debt collection department, which handles Magistrate’s Court litigation for selected clients (including local authority councils and commercial banks), she also practices in the fields of family law, basic administrative law (licencing for various activities) basic commercial and conveyancing transactions. She has an interest in family law.

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CORNELIUS DE KONING  holds the degree B.Proc. He was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1996 and as a notary public in 2007. He also holds an appointment as a sworn estate appraiser for Otjiwarongo, Outjo and Omaruru districts. He joined the Firm in Swakopmund as an associate on 01 July 2021 and is a director since 1 July 2022.Cornelius’s practice encompasses general legal practice, estate planning, the administration of deceased estates, commercial work, drafting of commercial contracts, general conveyancing and Magistrates and High Court litigation, including commercial litigation.

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CLIFFORD BEZUIDENHOUT holds the degrees BA(LAW) and LL.B. from the University of Western Cape. He completed his attachment/articles at the firm of legal practitioners Engling, Stritter and Partners in 1998 and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1999, as a conveyancer in 2002 and as a notary public in 2004. Clifford was previously a senior partner at ESP and head of their conveyancing department until his resignation on 30 September 2021 after 23 years of service.  Clifford joined the firm as an associate responsible for the Windhoek office, on 01 Clifford has vast experience in conveyancing, notarial matters, securities, and commercial transactions and predominantly focuses on conveyancing, securities, commercial transactions; contractual drafting; estate planning and administration.

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