Burning Issues in Employment Law Forum (In Person)

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, on 10 July 2017.  

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

While in practice she appeared in most Courts and Tribunals.  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 Board of the Access to Justice Advisory Group, a joint initiative of the Chief Justice and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice; was Chair of Te Awa Tuia Tangata, the Heads of Bench judicial diversity committee; and is a member of the Heads of Bench Conduct Advisory Committee.  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.

Philip has extensive litigation experience. He has been at the independent bar since 2006, and specialises in employment law and commercial litigation, including class actions.  He took silk in 2013.

Gillian heads MinterEllisonRuddWatts Auckland litigation and employment team.  A core aspect of Gillian's practice is the interaction between legal frameworks and the workplace itself. Gillian is passionate about the future of work and the challenges organisations face both locally and globally. She has deep experience with unionised workforces, advising clients and engaging with government on the role of unions in the workplace as concepts of the traditional workplace evolve. 

Gillian is a thought leader on the future of work, flexible working practices, complex pieces of legislation such as the Holidays Act and AI in the workplace. She maintains her interest in future of work and different work models through her roles as a 4 Day Week Global Ambassador and a Trustee of The Warehouse Group's New Zealand Future Work Skills Fund (a trust set up by to expand the skill sets of workers into different areas including the digital economy).

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.