Susan-Jane Davies – Managing Solicitor

Susan-Jane, also known as S-J, is a graduate of Auckland University and Nottingham University. She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1982, and as a solicitor of the High Court of England and Wales in 1987. Susan-Jane is the managing solicitor of ECCC’s legal division, EMA Legal.

Before returning to New Zealand in 2004, S-J practiced in London for 19 years as a senior employment lawyer in top 10 European law firms, Eversheds and Hammonds. She now regularly represents employers at mediation, in the Employment Relations Authority and in the Employment Court.

As part of the BusinessNZ family, she also lobbies on proposed employment law changes and appears before Parliamentary Select Committees representing employers’ interests in employment law matters.

Maree Kirk – Senior Associate

LLB (Hons), University of Otago

Maree has been practicing employment law exclusively since 2006 when she joined ECCC after 10 years in general practice.

She offers particular expertise in representing clients in matters relating to the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court, and has a strong record of defending personal grievance claims.

Ros Webby – Senior Associate

BA, LLB

Ros is a senior associate solicitor based in our Palmerston North office. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1996 with a BA and LLB, and was admitted to the Bar in 1997.

Ros worked in the legal team at EMA (Central), our legacy brand between 1998 and 2006. In that time, she represented members in the Employment Tribunal, Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court, as well as providing advice and day-to-day contract, employment law and employment relations assistance to a wide range of members, both large and small.

In 2006 she was headhunted by Fairfax New Zealand Limited to be their South Island Human Resources Manager where she was responsible for providing both strategic and operational human resource and employment relations advice to the company’s five South Island newspaper divisions.

Ros is experienced in conducting investigations and collective bargaining and provides advice on restructuring and business closure. She has a particular interest in the Holidays Act 2003 and has also assisted members with employment-related privacy and human rights issues.

Libby Inger – Senior Solicitor

BA LLB

Libby is based in the Napier branch office and works with employers on all employment related issues, including terminations, separation agreements, disciplinary action, discrimination, drug testing and email and internet usage policies. She also provides advice on a range of broader issues such as contractors’ agreements, restraints of trade, protected disclosures and immigration.

She was admitted to the bar in 1999, joined EMA Legal in 2006 and has appeared in the Employment Relations Authority and several Employment Court cases.

Roman Tuboltsev – Solicitor

LLB, University of Canterbury

Roman provides advice to ECCC members on a range of employment relations and human resource issues, including disciplinary action, restructuring, employment agreements and policies. He also conducts legal research to support the wider legal team.

He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 2010 and relocated to Wellington in 2011 to join EMA Legal. Before joining EMA Legal he worked as a volunteer at Community Law Canterbury for three years.

Natalie Pilcher – Solicitor

BSc, LLB

Natalie provides advice to ECCC members on a range of employment relations and human resource issues, and conducts research to support the wider legal team. She was admitted to the bar in 2009.

Since then Natalie volunteered for the Wellington Community Law Centre and practised as an employment lawyer before joining ECCC in 2011.

Kalina Vladinova-Aylor – Legal Executive

Legal Executive, MA International Relations (Bulgaria), Legal Executive (NZ)

Kalina joined EMA as our Legal Secretary in 2002. Soon after she qualified as a Legal Executive.

She provides general administrative support for the legal team and is responsible for our document management system. She has worked on several employment law test cases and is currently a member in good standing of the NZ Institute of Legal Executives.