Correspondent Attorney Services at Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court

Burger Huyser Attorneys provides correspondent attorney services at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court for instructing attorneys whose own offices fall outside the court’s local operating radius. Under Rule 5(3)(a)(i) and Rule 55(1)(e)(i) of the Magistrates’ Court Rules (per the Government Notice R 6752 amendment of 28 November 2025), a correspondent attorney must be appointed where the instructing attorney’s address is more than 25 kilometres from the relevant court; the firm’s general litigation practice handles issuing, serving, drafting of pleadings, drawing of court files, opposed and unopposed motions, default judgment applications, and hearing attendances on the instructing attorney’s behalf. Kempton Park instructions are received through the firm’s Bedfordview branch (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, 011 201 7190) and executed at the court on a Party-and-Party tariff basis.

What a Correspondent Attorney Does, and Why Instructing Attorneys Appoint One

A correspondent attorney is an attorney who receives and executes instructions from another attorney — the instructing attorney — because that attorney’s address is outside the local jurisdiction of the court where the matter must be issued, served, or heard. The relationship is attorney-to-attorney: the instructing attorney’s own client remains the instructing attorney’s client, and the instructing attorney is, in turn, the correspondent’s client for the purposes of that file.

The correspondent’s duty of care mirrors the instructing attorney’s: the matter is executed with the same skill, professionalism and urgency the instructing attorney would have applied if the court had been local. The correspondent is not a postbox — receipt of instruction is confirmed in writing, regular updates are provided to the instructing attorney, and the correspondent handles liaison with the Sheriff’s office and court staff on the instructing attorney’s behalf.

The 25km Rule: When Appointment Becomes Compulsory

The trigger for appointing a correspondent in magistrate’s and regional court matters is fixed by the Rules, not left to preference. Under Rule 5(3)(a)(i) and Rule 55(1)(e)(i) of the Magistrates’ Court Rules — as amended by Government Notice R 6752 in Government Gazette 53572, effective 28 November 2025 — a correspondent attorney must be appointed where the instructing attorney’s address is more than 25 kilometres from the relevant magistrate’s or regional court. The same principle applies in the High Court under Rule 6(5)(b)(i) and Rule 17(3)(a) of the Uniform Rules of Court (Government Notice R 3397, Government Gazette 48571, effective 19 June 2023).

The rule is jurisdictional: it governs what the court will accept for issuing, service, and step-aside from. Many instructing attorneys appoint a correspondent as a matter of course for out-of-area matters, even where the distance is borderline, in order to keep a local set of eyes on filing logistics, motion roll practice, and the local magistrate’s preferences.

The Scope of Correspondent Services at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court

The firm’s correspondent offering at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court is run end-to-end through the general litigation practice. A typical Kempton Park brief will include the items set out below.

• Issuing and serving — issuing new process from the court, arranging service via the Sheriff, and timeous filing of proof of service.
• Drawing of court files — drawing the file as required for first appearance and subsequent court dates.
• Drafting of pleadings and notices — drafting pleadings, notices and process to the instructing attorney’s specification.
• Opposed and unopposed motions — preparing, setting down, and appearing on opposed and unopposed motion applications, including Section 65A appearances where they arise.
• Default judgment applications — appearing on default judgment applications on the instructing attorney’s behalf.
• Indexing and pagination — preparing indexes and paginating the record for both unopposed and opposed matters.
• Hearing attendances and noting of judgments — physical attendance at the court for trial dates and noting of judgments.
• Urgent and same-day instructions — same-day responses to urgent instructions, where time permits.
• Liaison with the Sheriff’s office and court staff — handling queries, postponements and pre-trial conferences via the local correspondent.

Burger Huyser’s general litigation practice (see firm-reference.md, §2) is set up to field this work as one continuous service: intake, drafting, issuing, set-down, appearance, and noting of judgment, all from a single instructing file.

The Kempton Park Court Layer: Geography and Citation Convention

The Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court sits within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and serves Kempton Park and surrounding parts of the East Rand. The court hears civil trials, criminal trials (in the regional division where applicable), maintenance, domestic violence, and small claims; the firm’s correspondent practice fields the civil and motion-court work in particular.

Citations for pleadings filed from outside the sub-district follow the form used in comparable Gauteng magistrate’s courts. The convention applied to Randburg matters — “IN THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT FOR THE SUB-DISTRICT OF RANDBURG HELD AT RANDBURG” — is reproduced for Kempton Park matters as “IN THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT FOR THE [RELEVANT DISTRICT/SUB-DISTRICT] HELD AT KEMPTON PARK.” Instructing attorneys should confirm the exact sub-district wording against the current court file or via Court Online before issuing.

How Fees Work (Party-and-Party)

Correspondent work is customarily charged on a Party-and-Party scale — the same tariff basis used to tax costs between party and party under the magistrate’s and High Court rules. The instructing attorney is liable for the correspondent’s fees and disbursements, and recovers those fees from the instructing attorney’s own client where the instructing attorney’s trust account is insufficient. In practice:

• Fee envelope — settled up front or against deposit prior to the next court event, not on conclusion of the full trial.
• Tariff basis — Party-and-Party scale as prescribed under the rules of the relevant court.
• Disbursements — Sheriff’s fees, filing fees and similar disbursements are recovered at the applicable tariff.
• Costs agreement in writing — costs agreement, scope, and turnaround expectations are agreed in writing before the first instruction is actioned. A correspondent brief should never be implied.

The Correspondent Brief: What to Send, and What You’ll Get Back

A standing brief sent to Burger Huyser covers the matter background, the instructing attorney’s reference, the relevant court and case number, and the opposing party’s particulars. The first instruction usually attaches the pleadings, draft process, or summons to be issued; subsequent instructions follow by email for the next court event. Standard turnaround targets are set out below.

Task	Standard turnaround
Issuing of new process	Within one court day of confirmed instruction
Drawing of files	Two court days before the appearance
Urgent / same-day instructions	Same day, where the matter permits
Status updates	Around set-down, hearing, and judgment

Feedback loops are agreed at intake. As a default, the instructing attorney can expect a written confirmation of receipt at the start of each instruction, with further status updates around set-down, hearing, and judgment. This mirrors the firm’s general litigation practice convention (firm-reference.md, §2) of providing the instructing party with active, written progress rather than silent filing.

Choosing a Correspondent Attorney for Kempton Park Matters

For an instructing attorney evaluating a correspondent at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court, the following criteria are the ones that matter in practice.

• Litigation depth — the correspondent must regularly appear in the relevant magistrate’s or regional court, not just handle paper work; appearances and noting of judgment require a known face on the local roll.
• Geographic reach — within the 25km operating radius under the current Rules, with working coverage of the Ekurhuleni / East-Rand court cluster.
• Reasonable fee model — Party-and-Party tariffs are the industry baseline, and fees must be quoted up front rather than estimated loosely.
• Clear communication channels — confirmed receipt on instruction, with status updates around set-down, hearing and judgment.
• Coverage beyond a single court — a firm that covers the Kempton Park / Germiston / Johannesburg / Randburg cluster gives the instructing attorney a single correspondent for any matter in the East-Rand and northern-Johannesburg corridor.

Burger Huyser Attorneys meets this profile directly: the Bedfordview branch sits inside the 25km radius and the firm’s general litigation practice covers the Kempton Park, Germiston, Johannesburg, Randburg, Booysens, Roodepoort and Pretoria-area courts on a single correspondent brief.

Appoint Burger Huyser as your Kempton Park correspondent. Instructing attorneys whose office is outside the 25km operating radius of the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court (Rule 5(3)(a)(i) and Rule 55(1)(e)(i) of the Magistrates’ Court Rules, Government Notice R 6752 effective 28 November 2025) can appoint Burger Huyser Attorneys through the Bedfordview branch at 011 201 7190 (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2008; after-hours 061 536 3223). The firm’s general litigation practice covers issuing, serving, drafting, drawing of files, and court appearances on a Party-and-Party tariff basis across the Gauteng cluster, with admitted attorneys appearing at the Kempton Park court on the instructing attorney’s behalf. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified, “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”).

Frequently Asked Questions

When is a correspondent attorney required for a matter at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court?

Under Rule 5(3)(a)(i) and Rule 55(1)(e)(i) of the Magistrates’ Court Rules (effective 28 November 2025), a correspondent attorney must be appointed where the instructing attorney’s address is more than 25 kilometres from the relevant magistrate’s or regional court. The same principle applies in the High Court under Rule 6(5)(b)(i) and Rule 17(3)(a) of the Uniform Rules of Court (effective 19 June 2023). Burger Huyser Attorneys receives Kempton Park instructions through its Bedfordview office (011 201 7190) and attends to issuance, service, drafting, and hearing appearances under that rule.

What does Burger Huyser’s correspondent service at Kempton Park cover?

Issuing of new process, serving via the Sheriff, drafting and filing of pleadings and notices, drawing of court files, opposed and unopposed motions (including Section 65A appearances), default judgment applications, indexing and pagination, court attendances, noting of judgments, postponements, and liaison with the Sheriff’s office and court staff — all executed by the firm’s general litigation practice at Party-and-Party scale tariffs.

How are correspondent fees paid?

The instructing attorney is liable for the correspondent’s fees and disbursements, and recovers them from the instructing attorney’s own client where the instructing attorney’s trust account is insufficient. Fees are typically settled against deposit or in advance of the next court event rather than on trial conclusion. The costs agreement, scope, and turnaround expectations are set out in writing at intake.

Does the firm act as a “postbox” for instructing attorneys?

No. Burger Huyser, in line with the standard correspondent-attorney model adopted by Gauteng correspondent practices, does not accept instructions by postbox. Receipt of every instruction is confirmed in writing, and the firm provides regular updates to the instructing attorney and liaises with the Sheriff’s office and court staff on the instructing attorney’s behalf.

How quickly can Burger Huyser act on urgent Kempton Park instructions?

Same-day turnaround is offered for urgent instructions where the matter permits — typically for draft-process issuance, Section 65A appearances, and unopposed motion set-downs. The firm confirms receipt of the instruction in writing on the same court day, and reverts with a status update around set-down, hearing, or judgment.

Can Burger Huyser field correspondent work outside the Kempton Park area within Gauteng?

Yes. The firm’s correspondent network covers the Gauteng magistrate’s and regional court cluster that includes the Kempton Park, Germiston, Johannesburg, Randburg, Booysens, Roodepoort, and Pretoria-area courts, subject to the 25km operating radius per the current Rules. Instructing attorneys on multi-court matters receive a single correspondent brief covering the broader Gauteng footprint rather than a separate attorney per venue.