Fresh demand for health and safety legal advice

Kate Ashcroft, principal Copeland Ashcroft Law.

South Island employment and health and safety law firm Janet Copeland Law has opened a North Island office in Tauranga and this week rebranded itself as Copeland Ashcroft Law.

The name change reflected the appointment to the firm as a principal of Kate Ashcroft, a Waikato University graduate who worked in Hamilton and lived briefly in the Bay of Plenty before joining Buddle Finlay in Auckland.

Her experience also includes working with an award-winning boutique national employment law firm and in-house secondments in both the private and public sectors.

Janet Copeland remains as a principal of the firm, which now employs a total of six lawyers in Invercargill, Dunedin, Queenstown and Tauranga.

Ms Ashcroft, who was recognised this year by the international legal directory Asia Law as a Leading Lawyer in New Zealand, said she had been keen to return to the Bay.

"Janet and I met a few years ago, then we got together earlier this year and talked about how this might work. Now it's now come to fruition."

The newly rebranded firm was launched this week, and Ms Ashcroft has been in the city for the past month working with existing clients. She said the firm planned to grow the team in Tauranga

Copeland Ashcroft Law is an independent legal practice, providing specialist employment and health and safety legal support and advice to its clients and to the human resources sector.

Ms Copeland said the North Island had seen particularly strong demand for specialist expertise in employment and health and safety legal matters.

"Kate has specialised in employment and health and safety throughout her career and is a strong and learned provider of commercially pragmatic and tailored results that meet client needs," she said.

"We are honoured she accepted the role as a principal of the firm and has decided to move back to the sunny Bay of Plenty to help accommodate our growing client base there and the rest of the North Island."

Ms Ashcroft is a member of the Auckland District Law Society Incorporated's employment law committee and of the Institute of Directors. She is also a Trustee of Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Zealand Trust.