Burning Issues in Employment Law Conference 2025 (On Demand)

Sophie is a practising lawyer and co-founder of Woven.  Woven is a law firm specialising exclusively in independent workplace investigations and reviews for organisations throughout Aotearoa. As a certified AWI investigator, Sophie has both technical expertise and a human approach that provides a unique skill set for effectively undertaking independent processes.

Prior to founding Woven, Sophie gained legal experience working for various New Zealand law firms. She has completed the US Association of Workplace Investigators Training Institute and is a Certificate Holder.

Simon Schofield is a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland Law School. Simon gained his qualifications at the University of Canterbury and began his career working as an employment advocate exclusively for employers. He then worked as a solicitor at a large regional law firm before taking on the role as an associate in a boutique employment law firm. While in practice, Simon advised on, and acted in relation to, the full gamut of employment law issues. Simon previously lectured employment law at the University of Waikato, has lectured employment law at the University of Auckland as a teaching fellow since 2021, and now teaches as a Professional Teaching Fellow full-time at the University of Auckland. 

Simon has written widely on employment law, is the editor of Wolter Kluwer's New Zealand Employment Law Guide and is a contributing author of Mazengarb's Employment Law by LexisNexis. He is also a member of the Law Association Employment Law Committee.

David has specialised in employment law for over 20 years. He regularly acts both for migrant workers and employers of migrants, often on referral from NGOs or other representatives. David has been involved in numerous cases involving allegations of migrant exploitation, premiums for employment, false employment agreements being submitted for immigration purposes, labour inspector investigations, and dismissals of workers whose immigration status depends on their employment. He takes a practical, problem-solving approach, and will be sharing his insights on what practitioners need to know when called upon to advise in these areas.   

Chris initially qualified and worked in New Zealand.  Chris has since practiced in Australia for over 10 years, including as partner at a leading commercial law firm.  Chris advises on the full range of employment, industrial and safety issues impacting employers in Australia.  He appears in the Fair Work Commission, State and Territory Tribunals and the Federal Courts in Australia.

Chief Judge Christina Inglis was sworn in as Kaiwhakawā o Te Kōti Take Mahi o Aotearoa ǀ the Employment Court of New Zealand, in 2011 and appointed as Kaiwhakawā Matua ǀ Chief Judge six years later. 

She holds an LLM (Hons) from Victoria University and an MA (Hons) from Canterbury University. She was a Crown Counsel for many years, with a primary focus on civil litigation, public law and employment law, and led the Human Rights Team at Crown Law prior to her appointment to the bench. 

Chief Judge Inglis was formerly on the Advisory Board of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice; is a member of the Access to Justice Advisory Group and was Chair of Te Awa Tuia Tangata for three years. 

In 2023 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Te Herenga Waka ǀ Victoria University in recognition of her contribution to the law, and in September 2025 made an Adjunct Professor of Law at Te Piringa | Waikato University. 

Tim works as a Senior Solicitor in MBIE’s litigation team, where he has spent nearly six years representing the Labour Inspectorate and Immigration New Zealand in employment and immigration matters, alongside other regulatory litigation. He regularly appears before the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, District Court, and Immigration Protection Tribunal. Prior to joining MBIE, Tim worked with the Police Prosecution Service, practiced family and employment law in New Zealand, and held legal roles in the UK and Japan. His diverse experience informs a principled approach to complex issues involving migrant workers and regulatory compliance.

Charlotte is a partner in the Auckland Employment team at Dentons. She advises on all areas of employment law, helping a wide range of clients deal with complex employment issues. Charlotte is also the current Chair of the Board of the Auckland Business Chamber and sits on the General Council of the ICC World Chambers Federation, which gives her insight into New Zealand and international business matters.

Catherine Stewart has over 30 years’ experience as a litigation and employment lawyer. She joined the independent bar as a barrister sole in 2012, having held senior roles in employment law prior to then including at partnership level. 

Catherine has successfully argued many high profiles cases in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court and Court of Appeal, including acting for Dr Siouxsie Wiles in the landmark Employment Court case against the University of Auckland last year, as an intervener for TLANZ in the MW v Spiga case, acting for the employee in the well-known redundancy case of Stormont v Peddle Thorp, and acting for Mr Gilbert in the landmark case on stress in the workplace Gilbert v Department of Corrections. 

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Arts in languages. She is a regular presenter at conferences on topical employment law issues. She was voted by her clients to be Employment Lawyer of the Year at the 2013 NZ Law Awards, and was also voted runner up to Barrister of the Year. She is the Convenor of the Law Association’s Employment Law Committee and a member of the Employment and Privacy Committee for the NZ Bar Association.

Deborah Manning is a Law Honours graduate from the University of Auckland (BA/LLB, Hons). Since her admission to the Bar in 1999, she has specialised in refugee and immigration law, with a particular interest in how these areas intersect with other fields such as employment law. Throughout her career, Deborah has been an active member of the TLANZ Immigration and Refugee Committee and currently serves as Chair of the Immigration Reference Group—an active stakeholder engagement body working with MBIE. This role includes participation in the Compliance Working Group, which is initiating stakeholder engagement on issues relating to migrant exploitation.

Margaret is an old fossil, a relic from a distant past where union membership was compulsory, redundancy compensation was an entitlement, and boiler makers or meat processors meant trouble. As a partner in Haigh Lyon, Margaret acted for big unions – Labourers, Pulp & Paper Workers, Seafarers, but also small unions that these days seem quaint – Furniture workers, Apparel workers, Carpet and Bedding workers. 

In 2000, the doctrine of good faith emerged from the ashes of collective bargaining as we knew it and, in the 25 years of legislative stability that has followed, Margaret has represented both employers and employees.  

Margaret is a former Convenor of the (then) ADLS Employment Law Committee and she has presented at various employment law conferences over the years. For the past 12 years, Margaret has developed a busy Workplace Investigation practice. She is an Association of Workplace Investigators Certificate Holder. There is life in the old girl yet!

William Fussey is a Senior Associate in the Anderson Lloyd Employment Law team, having previously worked for a boutique employment law firm, a specialist employment barrister and another top-tier firm. William advises across the full-suite of employment law issues and processes. He has acted for various clients in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court, as well as in numerous mediations, and has a particular expertise in the nuances of the Holidays Act 2003.

 William specialises in the Privacy Act 2020, including the application of the information privacy principles to a range of employment scenarios, employee requests for personal information, and notifiable privacy breaches. William is interested in the interplay between privacy and employment law in the employment jurisdiction and regularly addresses a range of privacy issues within the employment context. He also has a Master of Laws with Distinction for his thesis on the privacy tort intrusion into seclusion. 

 William regularly presents at employment law seminars on a broad range of employment related topics. He is a long-standing member of The Law Association Employment Committee, a member of the New Zealand Law Society Canterbury Westland Employment Law Committee, and a member of the Privacy Foundation Privacy in Employment working group. 

Hon Brooke van Velden is the Minister of Internal Affairs and for Workplace Relations and Safety. Brooke left the private sector to work behind the scenes in Parliament to help pass the End of Life Choice Act. Qualified in international trade and economics, Brooke has also been a factory worker and corporate affairs consultant. She was elected to Parliament as an ACT Party MP in 2020, returning as MP for Tāmaki in 2023.

Chantal is a PhD Candidate in Law, researching how lawyers can navigate the conflicts between law as a profession and law as a business. Law has been Chantal’s passion for almost 15 years now, having practiced as a lawyer on the Gold Coast and working in legal technology (LegalTech) across both Australia and New Zealand. Chantal brings her passions for emerging technology and disruption to legal practice as well as her practice and LegalTech experience to the TLANZ Technology and Law Committee.

Edwin is a partner at Hudson Gavin Martin, a specialist technology, media and IP law firm. Ed’s main areas of practice are technology and IP development, commercialisation, protection and procurement. Ed has worked with businesses across various industry sectors (both customers and vendors) and has numerous clients offering technology solutions. In addition to his law degree, he has a degree majoring in Information Systems, so understands the technical, business and legal issues involved in technology projects. Ed is also the CIO at Hudson Gavin Martin where he is responsible for the firm’s technology infrastructure, strategy, and roadmap. Passionate about giving back to the industry, Ed is on the executive committees of the Law Association Technology Law group, KiwiSaaS, NZ IoT Alliance, and NZ Middle East Business Council. Ed is also a judge for the NZ Hi-Tech awards.

Josh McBride is a barrister at Richmond Chambers. With over 25 years of experience, his practice encompasses complex commercial and construction litigation, as well as technology-related disputes across multiple jurisdictions, including New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

A strong proponent of innovation in legal practice, Josh actively incorporates advanced AI technologies to enhance legal analysis, manage complex evidence, and inform strategic decision-making. 

Sally is a practising lawyer and co-founder of Woven.  Woven is a law firm specialising exclusively in independent workplace investigations and reviews for organisations throughout Aotearoa.  Sally’s litigation experience, combined with strong interpersonal, communication, and analytical skills, makes her a highly effective investigator and reviewer. 

Before co-founding the law firm Woven in 2018, Sally worked at leading law firms in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as working as an in-house solicitor.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC)
Manager, Investigations & Dispute Resolution

 Riki has worked in dispute resolution since 2011, first at the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner’s Office (now Utilities Disputes) and then since 2014 leading the Investigations and Dispute Resolution team at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC). She has done secondments to Crown Law in the Constitutional and Human Rights team, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as Director, Dispute Resolution. She has appeared in the Human Rights Review Tribunal as counsel for the Privacy Commissioner. 

  At OPC, she manages a team who work every day to resolve disputes about alleged breaches of the Privacy Act. Many of the complaints we receive involve an employment related dispute. 

 Most recently, Riki has turned her mind to how best to incorporate the principles of tikanga and te ao Māori into her dispute resolution work. 

 Riki is an Associate Member of AMINZ and a Fellow of the Resolution Institute.  She has a degree in law from Waikato (including a semester focussed on human rights at the University of Copenhagen), a Graduate Diploma in Business from Massey, and a certificate in Conflict Resolution from Queen Margaret University in Scotland.

Jin is an Associate Staff Barrister in Catherine Stewart’s team. He completed his LLB (Honours) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He worked in managerial roles for several international organisations and a church organisation before being admitted in New Zealand in 2018. 

Before joining Catherine’s team in 2024, Jin worked in a specialist employment law firm providing legal advice to large-scale international NZX- and ASX-listed organisations. Prior to that, he worked as a civil litigator in a boutique firm and also in one of Australasia’s largest employment relations firms. 

Jin holds a keen interest in all areas of employment law, including developments in privacy, technology and medical law, particularly where they intersect with employment law.

Kathryn is a senior barrister practising in employment and privacy law as well as civil litigation and professional ethics. In 2025, Kathryn was appointed by the University of Canterbury as an Adjunct Professor of Practice, Faculty of Law and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Samoa. Kathryn regularly presents at conferences and seminars in privacy, employment and legal ethics. Kathryn’s publications include: Privacy chapter in Human Rights Law (Looseleaf), Thomson Reuters; Ethics, Professional Responsibility and the Lawyer (3rd Ed) (co-author); Employment Law and Health Information chapters in Health Care and the Law (5th ed); Ethics with Older Clients chapter in A Practical Guide to Legal Issues for Older People; and Privacy in Schools (2009).