Our People
You’re in excellent hands
We take our work seriously, not ourselves. Our values are key to our practice and we are a true team. Nau mai – Welcome!
Partners
Emma Butcher LLB
Partner
Emma is a founding partner of BE Employment Law together with Angela Evans. Emma spent her first 14 years, 4 as a partner, with a leading national firm and the next 14 as a partner at another boutique employment firm.
Emma chose employment law as her specialist area because of its diverse and challenging technical legal issues applied to human problems. While litigation and dispute resolution were where Emma originally focussed, and continues to practice, in more recent years she has become sought out for her outstanding judgement and strategic insights on advisory work. Emma is frequently involved in providing guidance at governance and leadership level, as a trusted and reliable navigator of the most complex and difficult workplace law issues.
ebutcher@belaw.co.nz
DDI +64 9 553 7174
Mobile +64 21 288 8901
Angela Evans LLB BA
Partner
Angela is a founding partner of BE Employment Law together with Emma Butcher. Angela has almost 20 years’ legal experience, having practiced in leading firms in London and New Zealand before starting BE Employment Law.
Angela is an employment law specialist who provides client-centric advice on all aspects of employment and industrial relations law, and represents her clients at mediation and in the Employment Relations Authority and Court. Angela’s experience and intuition mean she is often asked to guide her clients through complex employment relations matters.
aevans@belaw.co.nz
DDI +64 9 553 7173
Mobile +64 21 516 105
Team
Melissa Johnston LLB (Hons.)
Consultant
Melissa joined BE Employment Law from the partnership of a national full-service firm, where she led the employment team. Melissa now works as a Consultant for BE.
Melissa is both New Zealand and UK qualified, having spent nine years practising in the UK, before returning to New Zealand to carry on her career in employment law.
Melissa’s experience has given her a commercial, pragmatic edge. She understands that employment law advice is usually time sensitive and nuanced, requiring clear analysis and directive thinking to resolve problems quickly and cost effectively. As well as having a strong advisory practice, Melissa is an accomplished litigator, representing clients at mediation, the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. She has also done a vast amount of work in the area of workplace investigations, helping clients to successfully navigate the complexities of the process to get the best business outcome achievable.
Melissa is a sought after speaker and regularly presents at employment law seminars and conferences.
mjohnston@belaw.co.nz
Mobile 021 811 130
Kelly Rowell LLB
Special Counsel
Kelly joined BE Employment Law following over 11 years in her own practice as a Barrister. Previously, she worked as a senior associate with another specialist employment law firm.
Kelly is skilled at quickly identifying the key issues at the heart of an employment relationship problem and developing effective strategies to best meet our clients’ desired outcomes. She is insightful and experienced, with excellent judgement, making her a trusted advisor to our clients. In addition, Kelly has a wealth of workplace investigation knowledge and experience, which she uses to assist clients undergoing that difficult process, to get the best possible resolution.
krowell@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 281 5320
Mobile 027 549 0399
Tanya Preston LLB (Hons.)
Senior Associate
Tanya focuses on promptly identifying key issues and providing practical, strategic, commercial advice to our clients to achieve the preferred outcome. Confident, pragmatic and solution focused, Tanya is a specialist at helping clients navigate litigation and overcome issues arising from all aspects of employment law. She has represented clients at mediations and in the Employment Relations Authority.
Tanya joined BE from another boutique employment firm. Prior to that Tanya has worked in Immigration, Insurance and general Litigation practices, so brings a full range of knowledge to the team.
tpreston@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 553 7175
Mobile 021 083 00644
Sam De La Mare LLB (Hons.) BA
Associate
Sam delivers insightful, well-researched and clever advice that gets our clients quickly to a solution. He is approachable, adaptable and skilled in dealing with the full range of complex employment law issues sensibly and efficiently. Since commencing in practice Sam has worked in a number of other legal areas as well as employment law and brings this valuable foundation in broader legal practice to his work with us.
Sam joins us after 3 years with a highly respected South Island firm, making the move back to Auckland to specialise in his discipline of choice in BE’s high-performing team.
sdelamare@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 553 5390
Mobile 027 237 2723
Jordan Denton LLB
Associate
Jordan is an employment lawyer with broad experience having worked in previous roles in firms in both New Zealand and Australia. Her direct and efficient approach, attention to detail in drafting and strong commercial acumen is a great fit for the BE team, guiding our clients and supporting the partners on all aspects of advisory and contentious work, including those arising from disciplinary matters, status claims, salary and contract disputes, restructuring, and difficult performance and compatibility processes. Jordan has represented clients at mediation and in the New Zealand courts through to Supreme Court level.
Highly accomplished and motivated, Jordan returns home to New Zealand after 2.5 years working for Australia’s leading plaintiff law firm.
jdenton@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 930 9144
Mobile 027 252 3583
Gordon Gore LLB BBus
Associate
Gordon joins the BE Team with a strong academic background and experience working in a corporate environment. As well as his intellectual ability, Gordon’s approachable and enthusiastic style makes him a valuable member of our team, well equipped to provide skilled and thorough input and assistance on advisory, contentious and corporate support work. He is honing his skills with employment agreements and policy drafting, privacy advice, and other compliance issues for our employer clients.
Gordon completed his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2024 and was admitted to the bar in July 2025.
ggore@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 553 4310
Mobile 027 217 2187
Finn McWhirter LLB BSc
Associate
Finn has commenced his legal career with BE following his recent graduation and admission, having a good deal of experience in working for a Trans-Tasman, high-end retail business for a number of years. This experience has given Finn a head start in understanding the mix of interpersonal and commercial dynamics in employment relationships. Finn has already demonstrated a talent for thoughtful and considered analysis of complex legal issues. As he develops his advocacy and drafting skills, Finn is responsible for supporting the team to achieve the best results for our clients, using sharp research, legal analysis, and attention to detail in all aspects of his work, including preparation of commercial employment-related advice, opinions and transactions, legal pleadings, evidence, policies and agreements.
Finn completed his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science (LLB/BSc) at the University of Auckland in 2025 and was admitted to the bar in September 2026.
fmcwhirter@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 553 7176
Mobile 027 404 7802
Naomi Urika BCom
Legal PA
Naomi offers comprehensive and efficient support to the legal team in all aspects of BE Employment Law. From being the first point of contact for suppliers and internal staff, through to client care, IT, and helping to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the office, Naomi is a key part of the team. With over four years of legal support experience, a Bachelor of Commerce degree, and her people-focussed warm personality, Naomi’s intelligent and calm presence helps us achieve the best outcomes for our clients.
nurika@belaw.co.nz
DDI 09 553 7172