‘The team are settled and know us as a business to provide clear legal advice with good commercial understanding of our business requirements.’

‘Good skills, experience and understanding of our business.’

‘Impressive attitude and effort. Unwavering diligence and commitment.’

‘Great all around depth from this national firm in the employment and industrial relations area.’

‘Shaun Brookes is a great operator. Very approachable, bright and focused on a solution.’

‘Peter Chemis has been at the top of his game for decades. ’

‘Great depth with experts in all areas of employment and industrial relations. Incredibly responsive and pragmatic with their advice and deliver excellent value for money.’

‘Chloe Luscombe has great expertise in black letter law interpretation issues and turnaround times are phenomenal.’

‘Ros Webby imposes structure on the most factually dense claims and very commercial in her advice.’

‘The members of the team that we have interacted with have all shown a real desire to provide practical assistance, and are very responsive, with a quick turnaround of advice or assistance. They are friendly, approachable, and professional.’

‘We predominantly use Andrew Schirnack and we continue to go back to him as he really knows our business, our culture and values, and how we operate. Andrew provides pragmatic, practical advice on ER matters, is very responsive and can relate well to our line managers who are impressed with his down-to-earth advice and approach. ’

‘Not only do they have the deep technical expertise, and lots of specific examples and experiences to draw on, they are flexible in approach, down-to-earth and pragmatic and very clear at explaining options, pros and cons and working through to find the best solution for the business. They really feel like an extension of the team, a true collaborative partner.’

‘The employment team are well versed in all employment and health and safety matters, from board presentations to one-on-one advice at management level.’

‘Gillian Service and June Hardacre provide an excellent service. Always available and get back in touch shortly after.’

‘I cannot rate Gillian Service more highly. She offers measured, pragmatic and commercial advice, and provides her clients with excellent support and is engaging.’

‘Very responsive and knowledgeable. We have reached a resolution on some long-standing issues, thanks to SG’s involvement.’

‘As they have been our legal representation for a number of years, their knowledge of our organisation, industry and historical issues is superb, and we rely on them for this.’

‘If someone is away, we are always redirected to another subject-matter expert very quickly. Responsiveness and service is clearly a top priority for them.’

‘Excellent knowledge in aspects of health and safety law, and the behaviours of regulators during their enquiry.’

‘Easy to work with. Explains things in simple terms suitable for non-lawyers to understand.’

‘Great law firm, highly recommend for health and safety law.’

‘The team I work with at Chapman Tripp NZ are amazing! They are exceedingly knowledgeable, supportive, responsive, practical, proactive and provide very compressive advice – advice that can be trusted. If they don’t know the answer, they actively seek advice from the broader team to support our enquires. We have worked with the team at CT in NZ for 20+ years and have no intention of changing any time soon.’

‘We have a long-standing working relationship with CT NZ, particularly Marie Wisker. I cannot speak highly enough of the team and the support and advice they provide.’

‘The team provides pragmatic, timely advice, and is not afraid to test their thinking rather than adhere blindly to a predetermined strategy for resolving a matter.’

‘We rely on Greg Cain’s understanding of our business and risk appetite, and ability to set out the options and advice in a way that laypeople can readily understand, particularly as we navigate an area of the law in a dispute resolution context we’ve not had a lot of exposure to previously.’

‘James Warren is truly an exceptional partner to work with. Not only is he responsive, but he adapts to meet our requirements. He also demonstrates a willingness to know more about our industry and business environment, which is invaluable.’

‘The employment team at DLA Piper are superb technically and can handle the most complex of issues. In saying that they are also willing to assist on minor matters and do it in such a way that is right-sized for the issue at hand. We use DLA Piper for all our employment matters.’

‘Carl Blake is an absolute standout, not only in the DLA team but across the NZ employment law landscape. His calm and pragmatic approach means matters get dealt with quickly and without the level of angst that often comes with the territory. He simply gets on with the job with a minimum amount of fuss and makes dealing with these matters far easier than it might otherwise be.’

‘Carl Blake is the employment lawyer partner that we engage with. He was introduced to us more than 10 years ago and since then he has been our go-to-person for almost all employments issues and matters in our group.’

‘Highly case-orientated team with pragmatic solutions during tough negotiations’

‘Team are super practical in advise, approachable and connected; if we speak with one person, we know the whole team are going to be across the issue.’

‘Alison Maelzer is the main partner we work with, and she is extremely responsive, efficient and very knowledgable. Nothing is too much trouble, and her advice gives me confidence.’

‘Jennifer Mills is exceptional, really takes a commercial approach and is focused on the best outcomes. Her legal mind is second to no one. Her written communication is the best I have seen.’

‘Jennifer Mills is one of the most experienced and capable lawyers in the employment law area in New Zealand. This is an area where specialisation does count as it is very technical but in addition good judgement is required and she has that.’

‘Jennifer Mills is what makes the practice unique. Her pragmatism along with depth of knowledge and experience is what sets the practice apart from others.’

‘Good level of experience and ability to advise and support through the most complex and challenging of problems.’

‘Good level of insight that brings so much more than just a legal opinion.’

‘Advice provided achieves cut through to get to a resolution. Quality of advice provided through Fair Pay Agreements in particular is unrivalled.’

‘Everyone is very knowledgeable, they are very much people focused and very approachable and available. ’

‘I find the individuals I have worked with over the past 5 years able to provide no nonsense practical advice. They get rid of the legal jargon and help you understand the options available to you in a way that just makes sense!’

‘The depth of expertise within Lane Neaves team is amazing. It’s not just a one-person response. Where necessary the entire team is utilised to provide the specialist answers and responses. I have felt at ease to engage with Lane Neave on a variety of employment questions and issues for my company.’

‘Capability is second-to-none. The employment law team are commercially astute and provide operationally feasible options to our complex business.’

‘Having an in-house legal team, we are not after the run of the mill basic advice and Russell McVeagh always delivers advice on complex matters with options that we can realistically implement.’

‘Emma Peterson is an exceptional employment practitioner. She is always pragmatic in her advice and understands the needs of our business. She breaks down complex legal concepts into easily digestible pieces that our business can understand and provides practical, commercially appropriate options and recommendations.’

‘Significant body of knowledge across industries, well-informed, and able to contextualise our needs and advice. ’

‘Partner really understands our business, the challenges we face, the practicalities of our workplaces and implications for advice that is provided.’

‘We have an in-house legal team, HR Team, and IR Team, so quite an internal capability, however we still find ourselves using SBM for their excellence in employment matters.’

‘They are up-to-date with current knowledge, pragmatic with their solutions.’

‘They obviously know their business and the administration matches the attention to detail with their clients. Overall though they are just good people to do business with.’

‘John Farrow is exceptionally knowledgeable, relatable and for someone with his knowledge, experience and reputation refreshingly ego free and focused on his clients. Sincere engaging and focused, with a good sense of humour, I always feel better for having our paths cross.’

‘The Tompkins Wake employment team has supported us across a wide range of employment issues, from policy updates through to personal grievance claims.’

‘Diversity of competencies and skills.’

‘Knowledge and practical advice, they look to provide a level of ethical fairness to each party.’

‘Wynn Williams’ labour and employment team are readily available to assist with a myriad of employment issues, and there is always a lawyer willing to advise on practical steps to deal competently with a crisis. The team is unique, as they have a great understanding of the public sector and the added complexities that this environment brings.’

‘Amanda Douglas is a very approachable and levelheaded advisor, who has become a trusted contact that is able to cut through the noise and focus on the most pressing issues and navigate to a workable solution.’

‘Amanda Douglas is pragmatic and is able to provide appropriate legal assistance to keep our organisation safe and able to fulfil its obligations to its employees. ’