Kern, Armstrong & Associates Inc. Team

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MEET THE TEAM

EXPERIENCED AND STRATEGIC

Zelmari Kern - Director The firm was founded by Zelmari Kern in 2014. Zelmari is an admitted attorney from Johannesburg and holds a Bcom Law Degree and honours LLB degree. She has extensive experience in labour law, commercial law, corporate governance, insurance law and has also completed an advanced course in labour law at the University of Pretoria and UCT and further completed an advanced course in the Companies Act at the University of Johannesburg.	Gregory Armstrong - Director Gregory Armstrong (LLB) is an admitted attorney, with High Court appearance, and has a general legal practice with extensive experience in High Court and Magistrates Court litigation; he practiced as a partner at a medium sized firm in Melrose Estate before joining Kern, Armstrong & Du Plessis Inc. late in 2016; he heads up the general litigation, family law and criminal law department at Kern, Armstrong & Associates	Michelle Toxopeüs - Candidate Attorney Michelle Toxopeüs is currently serving her articles at Kern, Armstrong & Associates Before joining the firm, she was a legal researcher at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and worked at the Helen Suzman Foundation, also as a legal researcher. She holds a master's degree in environmental law and governance from the North West University.
Mark Eccles - Senior Attorney Mark Eccles was admitted as an attorney in 2001. He obtained his BCom and LLB from the University of Witwatersrand, LLM from University of South Africa and his Higher Diploma in Tax Law from University of Johannesburg. Mark has worked in the corporate world, private practice and in entrepreneurial ventures. From 1993 to 1998 he was a legal advisor at Gold Fields of South Africa, rising to group legal officer.	Charl Du Plessis - Senior Consultant Charl is an attorney, notary and conveyancer and holds the degrees BA (Law and Economics) & LLB from UCT (1990). He obtained a Certificate in Tax Practice from RAU (2002), a Diploma in Advanced Company Law I & II from Wits (2011), a Certificate in Business Rescue Practice from UNISA and the South African Law Society (2016) and attended the SAPOA’S Property Development Management Programme at the UCT Graduate School of Business in 1997.	Tarin - Attorney Consultant Tarin joined Kern, Armstrong & Associates as an Associate Attorney in 2022. Tarin holds an LLB as well as an LLM in International Law from the University of the Witwatersrand. Tarin has experience in various areas of law including High Court and Magistrate Court litigation, family law, children’s law, education law and commercial law. She forms part of the Litigation, Corporate and Commercial department.
Luxolo Ntuli Luxolo Ntuli is currently serving her Articles of Clerkship at Kern, Armstrong & Associates. She obtained her LLB Degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, whereby she obtained a Dean’s Commendation in her final year. Luxolo is a young individual who is passionate in providing bespoke legal solutions to clients.	Charlene Lau – Paralegal Charlene Lau is currently studying and completing her LLB degree at UNISA, she also has a higher diploma in journalism and assists the firm and its attorneys with legal matters and administrative tasks.	Celeste Aitken – Senior Attorney Celeste Aitken has been admitted attorney since 2009 and holds her LLB Law Degree and Cyber Law Diploma. Celeste has specialised in insurance and cyber law and also has experience in general litigation. She has work experience in larger corporate companies such as Stalker Hutchison and Admiral, Chubb Insurance Company, Norton Rose Fulbright as well as smaller boutique firms such as Ulrich Roux and Associates. Celeste’s role is to assist our client’s unique business and legal needs.
Rohula Bilankulu - Attorney Rohula Bilankulu is an attorney with a passion for litigation. As a Candidate Attorney she specialised in insurance litigation, with a specific focus in public liability and medical negligence. Post admission as an attorney, Rohula was an associate in a general litigation practice. In this role she oversaw the success of many litigations matters both before the High Court and various Magistrates Courts. Currently, she holds the position of attorney and deals with all types of litigation matters.	Natalie Gengan - Financial Natalie Gengan studied Credit Management at University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and has spent 15 years in the collections arena. She is a multiskilled individual with strengths in technical analysis, risk and compliance and information business processes. She has sound knowledge of the Financial services industry including debt collection.	Nicole van Niekerk - Administration Nicole van Niekerk studied at the University of Johannesburg and completed her BA degree in Marketing and Communications. Nicole has over 10 years experience in administration and client relations. Nicole’s role is to assist the Kern, Armstrong & Associates will all admin related tasks, together with maintaining healthy client relations.
Thapelo Matsebula Thapelo has joined our team to help ensure that all correspondence is safely transported.	Oliver Marshall – Associate Designate and Business Development Manager Oliver Marshall studied towards a BA (Law), LLB and LLM (Corporate & Commercial) at the University of the Witwatersrand. While pursuing a master’s, Oliver worked at Kern, Armstrong & Associates in the Johannesburg Office and thereafter lectured commercial and contract law at Wits University. He forms part of the litigation and corporate team at our Cape Town Office where he will also manage business development.

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