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Laura Scampion

Partner
Country Managing Partner, New Zealand
Head of Employment, New Zealand
She distils key issues and advice, works well with both legal and HR teams for employment matters and has excellent timely communication.
— Client, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022
Auckland
About

Laura focuses on employment and health and safety law. She has over 20 years’ experience of helping large organisations with a broad range of issues in the UK and New Zealand. 

Laura is particularly renowned for her influential work on diversity and inclusion, in particular social mobility initiatives.

She has a particular focus on employment restructuring and helps clients with a broad range of other issues including:
  • management of employee performance and misconduct
  • employment documentation and policy drafting
  • international secondments and transfers
  • large scale redundancy projects
  • employee share schemes
  • privacy and discrimination/human rights complaints
  • restraint of trade and
  • union and collective issues.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Laura worked in the UK for almost 10 years. She advised FTSE 100 clients alongside HR and tax consultants as part of an international HR network of lawyers advising on employment, pensions and immigration.

Laura is a well-known legal commentator and regularly presents on aspects of employment and health and safety law.

She holds additional leadership and governance roles locally and globally for DLA Piper as a New Zealand Board Member, Co-Chair of New Zealand’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, lead of New Zealand’s Head Start Programme, and member of the Asia Pacific Diversity and Inclusion Council. She is also a former Trustee of the Global Scholarship Programme.
 
Laura is on the Sustainable Business Council Advisory Board and is a member of Global Women in New Zealand.
Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and InvestigationsRestructuringConsumer Goods, Food and RetailFinancial ServicesInsuranceLife SciencesEmploymentTechnology
Professional QualificationsBarrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, 1998Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, 2004

Highlights

EXPERIENCE

  • Acting for one of New Zealand's leading financial services providers on contentious employment matters, including disciplinary issues relating to misconduct and performance
  • Providing all New Zealand employment relations advice to one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms
  • Providing specialist technology sector advice both locally in New Zealand and for global clients, covering complex cross border issues, as well as local compliance and best practice advice
  • Regularly instructed to advise employers on restraint of trade drafting, enforcement and amendment
  • Advising various general counsel for luxury retail brands based in the US, and HR leads for Australia and New Zealand on day-to-day employment law including policy drafting and employment agreement compliance and enforcement
  • Providing regular advice on employee compensation, benefits and remuneration
  • Acting for New Zealand's largest employer on contentious and non-contentious matters
  • Acting for numerous insurance brokers on restraint of trade issues, breach of confidence issues and IP breaches from investigation (including instructing forensics), letters before action and filing in Employment Relations Authority
  • Regular appearances in mediation, the Employment Court, District Court and High Court, including urgent applications
  • Acting for a global pharmaceutical company with a presence in New Zealand on the restructure and reorganisation of approximately 60% of its workforce
  • Providing daily advice to numerous clients on collective bargaining and other industrial relations issues
  • Providing all New Zealand employment relations advice to New Zealand’s largest life insurer
Education
  • University of Auckland, BA, 1998
  • University of Auckland, LLB, 1998

Awards and recognition

  • Leading individual, Labour and Employment, New Zealand, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018-22 
  • Ranked lawyer, Employment, New Zealand, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022
  • Named in the Changemaker category of NZ Lawyer's Most Influential Lawyers list, 2021 and 2022
  • Named in NZ Lawyer's Elite Women List 2022
  • Named as one of the Top 100 Diverse Board-Ready Directors by the Super Diversity Institute and the Ministry for Ethnic Communities in 2021
  • New Zealand Employment team awarded a 5-Star Excellence Award in the Human Resources Director (HRD) and NZ Lawyer 5-Star Excellence Awards 2021

Publications and media

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Director of the Sustainable Business Council Advisory Board
  • New Zealand Law Society
  • Global Women in New Zealand
DLA Piper memberships:
  • Co-Chair of New Zealand’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee
  • Lead of New Zealand’s Head Start Programme
  • Member of the Asia Pacific Diversity and Inclusion Council

My latest insights

News

Pavanie Edirisuriya: an Elite Woman in 2024 for leadership and energy sector M&A

30 October 2024 .2 minute read

Publication

The green chain reaction

9 October 2024 .4 minute read

Publication

Upcoming changes to Employment Relations Amendment Bill: Contractor or Employee?

19 September 2024 .5 minute read

View All

Connect

Phone

+64 9 916 3779
(Work, Auckland)
+64 21 809 957
(Work)
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