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Emma Peterson
Partner
Auckland
Employment, Health and Safety
+64 9 367 8354 DDI [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-peterson-a48b01139/
Profile Experience Insights Recognition
Profile

Emma is a Partner in the Litigation team specialising in employment law and health and safety. She advises on all aspects of employment law with a particular focus on personal grievances, issues regarding confidentiality and restraints of trade, restructurings, and employment issues arising in insolvency scenarios.

Before rejoining Russell McVeagh in 2016, she worked for a boutique insolvency firm in London and then at Simmons & Simmons in Hong Kong.

Related Expertise

Employment, Health & Safety
Litigation
Investigations
Experience

Emma's relevant experience includes advising on:

  • Personal grievance claims and other litigation from mediation through to hearing in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court.
  • The management of all workplace issues, including poor performance, misconduct and restructuring/redundancy.
  • The protection of confidential information and competitive opportunities.
  • Restructuring, including communications to employees, exit negotiations and severance agreements.
  • The employment aspects of insolvency scenarios including receiverships.
  • Obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
  • Obligations following an accident, including in relation to investigations and prosecutions by WorkSafe.
  • Drafting employment agreements and workplace policies, including incentive arrangements and share schemes.
  • All employment related legislation, including the Employment Relations Act, the Holidays Act, the Privacy Act, and the Human Rights Act.
Insights
Recognition

Emma has been recognised in the Best Lawyers® 2024 Guide for both Insolvency and Reorganisation Law; and Litigation. She is ranked by the Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific 2025 Guide for Employment Law and has been named a 'Next Gen Partner' in the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2025 Guide.

Client feedback in the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2022 Guide emphasised Emma's expertise in the Employment, Health and Safety sector, stating Emma is:

"knowledgeable and commercially astute, she understands people and organisational dynamics, and is efficient in terms of assigning appropriate resource to various matters. She builds relationships with her clients, and I couldn’t recommend her services highly enough"