Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Employment - New Zealand
What the Team is Known For
Smith Dunn is a newly established boutique employment law firm based in Auckland. The firm advises on a wide range of employment matters, including workplace investigations, restructuring, collective bargaining and unfair dismissal litigation. The team regularly appears before the Employment Court and acts for both local clients and international companies requiring employment law support in New Zealand. Its client base spans the technology, sports, transport and retail sectors.
Strengths
The partners at Smith Dunn provide pragmatic, straightforward and decisive advice. They highlight potential risks but provide a clear and accurate direction to help assess and manage them.
Smith Dunn takes a strong interest in defining a strategy for success, including options and consequences, providing confidence throughout that process.
Work Highlights
Smith Dunn advised Mike Lanigan and a group of maintenance technicians employed by Fonterra at its Takanini plant on an appeal to the Employment Court regarding the lawfulness of Fonterra's requirement for them to use finger scanning technology, with the case being heard by a Full Court and interventions by the Council of Trade Unions and Privacy Foundation.
Notable practitioners
Kylie Dunn is well regarded for her handling of a wide range of employment matters, including regulatory compliance, termination, redundancies and restraint of trade, as well as personal grievances and professional misconduct.
We appreciate Kylie's thorough and straightforward approach and her ability to ensure that legal concepts are easily digestible.
Kylie is fantastic. She provides very astute, well-considered advice and has a high level of business acumen.
Bridget Smith has a broad practice that encompasses WorkSafe investigations, post-employment restrictions and disputes.
Bridget Smith provided great service with clear scoping, and handled a sensitive matter very well.