Professional help
Court processes are not simple and it can be helpful to get advice from a lawyer, employment law advocate, union or employers' group.
Getting legal advice
To find a suitable lawyer you can:
- you can ask friends, family or other people you trust to recommend someone
- use the Find a Lawyer tool on the NZ Law Society website(external link)
- use Legal Aid Lawyer Finder from the Ministry of Justice website(external link). Select please Area of Law: civil; Type of case: Employment.
- look in the Yellow Pages(external link) under ‘Barristers and Solicitors’, ‘Lawyers’ or ‘employment advocate’
- you can ask at your local community law centre(external link). The community law centre may give you free legal advice, but they also may refer you to Te Ara Ture.(external link)
- contact the Citizens Advice Bureau(external link)
Other sources of legal help
Employment advocates are people who know about employment law but are not lawyers. They can help you prepare documents, give advice and speak for you in court. You will have to pay for these services, but their fees are generally lower than lawyers. To find an employment advocate search in the Yellow Pages (external link)or visit the Employment Law Institute of New Zealand website(external link)
Legal Assistance
If you are representing yourself in the Employment Court, TE ARA TURE [PDF, 92 KB] may be able to help.
Te Ara Ture connects people to volunteer lawyers who specialise in employment law. Its volunteers can help in the following ways:
- legal advice about whether a case will succeed
- help to solve a dispute (such as negotiation or mediation)
- legal documents written for litigants (such as court documents)
- advice about court procedure
Occasionally, Te Ara Ture volunteers will go to Court for people.
Please note, if you are already represented by a lawyer, you will not be eligible for this service. Te Ara Ture also cannot help people who have been advised by a lawyer that their case is unlikely to succeed.
How to apply:
- To find out if you might be eligible, check out the Te Ara Ture website:
Te Ara Ture website(external link)
- If you are ready to apply, you need to visit your local community law centre: Community law(external link)
If you change your representative or decide to represent yourself
If you change your lawyer or advocate, the new lawyer or advocate will need to file and serve the other party with a notice of change of representation.
If you decide to represent yourself, you will also need to file and serve on the other party a notice of change of representation.
If you or your representative changes the address for the service of documents, you will need to file a notice of change of address for service.
You can find a notice of change representation and a notice of change of address for service on our forms and fees page.
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