After completing a B.Mus(Hons) in performance, Jane went to London in search of a career in music and instead found herself working in recruitment. More than 13 years later, she is still thoroughly enjoying the industry and was delighted to take up the role of Director with Law Staff, Wellington and Christchurch.

Previously, Jane worked for a large global recruitment company, culminating in a role as NZ Manager for their Professional division. During this time she was voted by candidates as their “Favourite Individual Recruiter” in the Seek Annual Recruitment Awards. Jane then moved to a NZ-owned, full-service recruitment provider where she was leading the southern region branches and managing major client relationships.

Jane has led large-scale recruitment campaigns for public sector clients, including major reorganizations at the senior management level. She has an incomparable understanding of the nuances involved in specialist and executive recruitment and enjoys working closely with her clients to provide a superior service experience.

Music remains a strong interest of Jane’s, having sung with the Chapman Tripp NZ Opera Chorus for many years. However, this has now been put to one side as she focuses on her young family and growing the Law Staff business in the Lower North and South Islands.

Lisa joined Law Staff International in 2010 to specialise in permanent and contract professional legal staff recruitment for our in-house corporate division. Lisa has a legal background initially gained from working with profile barristers in chambers in the Auckland CBD and then working for a boutique firm in Auckland working primarily in the areas of litigation and commercial/corporate law. She possesses a strong commercial background which when combined with her knowledge of the legal industry and the skills gained from her specialist recruitment training, places her in the excellent position of being able to assist you in fulfilling your present and future contract and permanent staffing requirements.

Lisa has an LLB from the University of Auckland and a BA pending completion with a major in Employment Relations/ HR and Policy and a minor in Philosophy. She is admitted as a barrister & solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. 

Alicia comes to us with an extensive background within the legal and recruitment industries. After a number of years as a Law Clerk in prominent Australian Law firms, Alicia utilised her legal background within the recruitment industry as a consultant to many of the top tier and mid-tier Australian firms. She also spent time in the UK managing a global gateway for Lawyers entering and leaving the legal market. 

Now in Wellington, and after settling down with her family, Alicia is keen to continue her success in supporting New Zealand law firms, larger and small. Alicia specialises in temporary and permanent placements of legal support staff.

Liza Patel

Executive Search Specialist

Corporate Staff

A division of Law Staff

Originally from Queenstown, Liza worked for many years in London, initially for a leading investment house as a compliance officer and then for 10 years as an international executive search specialist within the financial services sector.

Returning to New Zealand five years ago, Liza has continued to work within the international executive search arena, with a particular focus on the financial services, commercial operations and government sectors.

Liza heads up Corporate Staff nationally, providing executive search and selection services, predominantly focusing on the financial services sector. This offering  complements our specialist legal recruitment divisions, Law Staff and Law Partners.

Since being involved with the Youth Parliament in 2003, Tuku has had an affinity for the public sector.  He has worked with different members and ministers in the House of Representatives on various projects in particular with Maori based issues and strategies.  He has an interest in the machinery of government and comes to us from the Victoria University Law School.

Tuku joined Law Staff after finishing as a lecturer for Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi.  He taught in the fields of business administration, commercial innovation and Maori tourism.  Tuku thrives on motivating individuals to achieve their full potential.

Whilst Tuku specialises in the public sector and policy generally, he has an added field of strength in Maori.

Jo commenced her legal career in Hawkes Bay where she practiced in criminal, family, civil and employment litigation for 5 years.  From there she travelled to the UK where she spent time working for Stokes & Co. in Cork City, Ireland and subsequent to that in London specialising in Employment Law.  Then a move In-house to Hasbro Europe (based in London) saw her establish her commercial/corporate career.  Upon her return to New Zealand Jo worked for Anderson Lloyd Caudwell in Queenstown in their Company/Commercial team, which she relished until she fell pregnant with twins which necessitated a move to Christchurch.  After a break at home with her twins she then commenced another In-house role with Solid Energy NZ Ltd and has enjoyed being part of such a dynamic company for the past 5 years.

Jo is now ready for a new challenge and has decided to enter the recruitment industry.  Her vast legal experience places her in the enviable position of having a working knowledge of most areas of law which in turn means she can assist you with the exact type of person you’re looking for, or role you’re looking for. 

Jo specialises in permanent and temporary/contract recruitment of lawyers, both in private practise and in-house.  She prides herself on her ability to relate to clients and candidates and to pro-actively assist clients with their staffing strategy to ensure the best fit for any organisation.

Rachel commenced her career in the litigation support team of a top tier Wellington law firm, which she thoroughly enjoyed. After a few years, she was ready for a new challenge and in 2001, Rachel entered the recruitment industry. Her experience spans the recruitment of legal support, general administrative, finance, accounting and banking roles.  

Rachel has worked for boutique recruitment firms in Wellington and she also gained some experience as an in-house consultant with a large bank.  Rachel made the move south in 2006. Prior to joining Law Staff, Rachel was working for a global recruitment company in their Christchurch branch.

Rachel specialises in permanent and temporary recruitment of legal support and other corporate roles. She prides herself on her ability to work closely with clients and candidates to ensure the best fit for an organisation.

Melanie specialises in candidate management and temporary staffing, as Para-Consultant for the Wellington and Christchurch teams. Originally joining Law Staff as our Receptionist/Administrator, Melanie proved that she had additional talents and her role quickly expanded.

Prior to joining Law Staff, Melanie provided front-line, administrative and sales support for an international company based in Wellington. Her interest in law was piqued after studying legal papers at Victoria University and this led to her becoming involved in the legal recruitment industry.

Our little “pocket rocket”, Melanie is always juggling a multitude of tasks and she thrives on the constant people contact in her role.

Bridget joined as the Accountant for Law Staff in 2009.  Bridget is Auckland University of Technology qualified and a recruitment specialist Accountant. Having worked with other recruitment organisations what motivated Bridget to join Law Staff was the people, culture and shared business values.

Bridget enjoys the challenge of leading the finance team for our offices.