Stephen Langton, Partner

Stephen is the founding and managing partner of LangtonHudson, Lawyers. Rated by independent legal directories as one of the leading employment lawyers in New Zealand, Stephen acts as trusted advisor to clients on a wide range of employment law and industrial relations issues. He subscribes to the view that "employment law is, more often than not, urgent and important for a client's business, or their livelihood; they need to be able to access high level, expert legal but commercial and practical advice, in a timely fashion and with a correspondingly high level of service".

Stephen has appeared as counsel in a number of significant "employment" cases, both in the Employment Institutions (the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court), and in the High Court. Recent highlights include:

• representing a defendant in test case proceedings filed against it under the Human Rights Act, and in which the lawfulness of its actions taken to manage breast feeding, on private property, were challenged
• representing a corporate defendant in its successful appeal to the High Court to overturn a sentence imposed by the District Court under the Health and Safety in Employment Act: General Distributors Limited v Department of Labour
• representing plaintiff corporations in their High Court claims for damages and accounts of profits against a former employee/director for breaches of his fiduciary duties and against his new employer for commission of the economic tort of conspiring to harm the plaintiff by those unlawful means
• representing a plaintiff corporation in its concurrent High Court and Employment Institutions' claims for damages against its former Managing Director (and a related company) for breaches of restraints of trade and commission of economic torts of conspiracy and inducement to breach an employment contract, and against its former Financial Controller for breach of his employment contract, misuse of confidential information and breach of de facto fiduciary duties
• representing an independent school whose attendees are all members of a particular religious community, in Employment Court proceedings in which the school's dismissal of a teacher for non-compliance of its religious ethos was challenged
• advising a large multi-national corporation on its industrial relations strategies in New Zealand, and appearing as counsel on related litigation

Stephen is the Auckland Representative on the New Zealand Law Society's Employment Law Committee, a member of the Ministry of Justice Legal Aid Provider Selection Committee and a regular contributor to various publications and conferences.

Education:

University of Auckland, LLB, BA

Experience:

Partner, LangtonHudson, Lawyers, 2005 - present
Kiely Thompson Caisley, 1997 - 2005 (Partner 2000 - 2005)
Solicitor, Hesketh Henry, 1994 - 1997

Contact:

DDI +64 9 916 2590

Email slangton@langtonhudson.co.nz