Leticia Zingapeta

General Litigation

Candidate Legal Practitioner at D. Naidoo & Associates Attorneys Inc. (2025-04 – 2026-07)

General Litigation

• Drafting and preparing litigation documents, including summons, notices, pleas, exceptions, special pleas, replications and founding, supporting and confirmatory affidavits.
• Managed litigation files, monitored procedural deadlines and ensured compliance with court rules and practice directives.
• Attended to filing and service of court documents and appeared in Magistrates' Court District Division Motion Court matters, presenting applications and procedural arguments.
• Used Court Online and CaseLines for electronic filing, case management, document uploads and court communication across Magistrates Court, Labour Court and High Courts.
• Conducted legal research and assisted with legal opinions, settlement proposals and heads of argument.
• Engaged with clients, opposing attorneys, advocates, court officials and sheriffs and supported settlement negotiations and implementation of instructions.
• Prepared party-and-party and attorney-and-client bills of costs in accordance with applicable tariffs and cost scales.
• Provided conveyancing and deceased-estate administrative support, including Pretoria Deeds Office document delivery, filing, collection and file tracking.
• Exposure included debt collection, insurance claims, medical-negligence/HPCSA complaints, family-law disputes, motor vehicle claims and contractual disputes.
• Court appearances on behalf of the Director and executive administrative support.

Legal Intern at Lawyers for Human Rights (2024-11 – 2025-04)

National Office – Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme

• Provided legal support within the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme, including matters concerning statelessness, asylum, permanent residence, citizenship and visas.
• Conducted client screening and consultations and assessed the merits of applications, appeals and potential judicial-review matters.
• Prepared letters, appeal and review documentation for the Refugee Appeal Authority of South Africa, the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs and the Department of Home Affairs.
• Conducted research on country-of-origin information, legislation and case law and maintained client information on organisational cloud/ERP systems.

Student Legal Advisor at Wits Law Clinic (2024-02 – 2024-11)

Refugee Department

• Consulted directly with clients under attorney supervision, diagnosed legal issues and reported recommendations on whether matters should be accepted.
• Managed files from intake through completion and drafted letters, letters of demand, notices of motion and affidavits.
• Conducted legal research and followed detailed instructions while maintaining accurate file administration and deadlines.

Summer Vacation Student at Thomson Wilks Attorneys & Conveyancers (2024-04 – 2024-04)

• Shadowed candidate attorneys during consultations, commissioning and client interactions and supported legal research.
• Assisted with legal arguments and contributed research relevant to case strategy and practical legal problem-solving.

Summer Vacation Student at Destone & Co. Legal Practitioners (2023-12 – 2023-12)

• Supported attorneys administratively and conducted legal research under the supervision of the President of the Malawi Law Society and other attorneys.
• Assisted with drafting pleas, preparing defences and filing documents while gaining exposure to legal practice outside South Africa.

Temporary Helpdesk Assistant at Optimi Classroom (2023-01 – 2024-03)

• Served as a first point of contact for customers, resolving or escalating queries relating to digital textbooks, purchases and platform access.
• Supported sales and marketing activities and communicated customer issues and resolutions accurately across teams.

Administrative Assistant at Xedspace (2021-02 – 2021-11)

• Maintained digital and paper filing systems, scheduled meetings, managed diaries and handled telephone and email queries.
• Prepared meeting minutes, liaised with staff and clients and provided general administrative support for meetings, promotional activities and conferences.

Practical Vocation Training Certificate – Law Society of South Africa (2025 – 2025)

Bachelor of Laws in Law – University of the Witwatersrand (2022 – 2024)

Bachelor of Commerce in Law – Eduvos (2018 – 2021)

Matric – Hoerskool Voortrekkerhoogte (2013 – 2017)