Emma Pritchard

EXECUTIVE COUNSEL &  TEAM LEADER

After graduating from the University of New South Wales in 1993, Emma became an Associate to Mr Justice Lee of the Federal Court of Australia. She then joined one of Australia’s largest law firms practising in the areas of commercial litigation, corporate law and then specialised in employment and industrial law.

Emma joined Harmers Workplace Lawyers in December 1999.  Emma develops long term, strong client relationships, actively listening to the needs of clients.  She focuses on providing clients with practical, strategical and commercially sensible advice, often working behind the scenes in a non adversarial manner.

However, where necessary, Emma is a strong litigator, and had the conduct of the largest litigation matter in the history of the Industrial Relations Court of New South Wales, where she acted for Gough & Gilmour Holdings Pty Limited & Ors against Caterpillar Australia Pty Ltd & Ors.

Emma advises both employers and employees in relation to:

• individual and collective employment agreements (with particular expertise in executive contracts);
• remuneration incentive and retention arrangements, including share and option scheme arrangements;
• protection of confidential information and intellectual property;
• restraint of trade agreements;
• legal risks associated with termination of employment;
• unfair dismissal claims;
• adverse action claims;
• strategies to manage and resolve industrial/employment disputes;
• employment and industrial relations implications from mergers and acquisitions;
• employment issues arising under the Corporations Law, including insolvency issues;
• occupational health and safety laws, including assisting investigations and prosecutions;
• discrimination, equal opportunity and bullying claims;
• privacy issues; and
• compliance training and presentations in relation to the above.

Emma is a “Recommended Lawyer” in the Labour and Employment Law category of the 2021 & 2020 Asia Pacific Legal 500; a “Recommended Lawyer” in the Employee & Trade Union Representation category of 2020 & 2024 Doyle’s Leading Lawyers; and previously won the Corporate INTL Legal Award for “Employment Litigation Lawyer of the Year in Australia”.

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS:

“I would like to recommend Emma Pritchard and Jenny Inness from Harmers Workplace Lawyers. They conducted Bullying and Harassment training throughout our organisation from the Executive Leadership Team through to retail store managers. The training was informative, engaging and expertly delivered. It was effective because they used relevant case law to illustrate the importance of championing a ‘harassment free workplace’. The P&C team received a lot of positive feedback about the training from the participants. We look forward to partnering with them again on future training and using their expertise to assist B&L in navigating the complexity of changes to workplace laws.”

Amanda Cameron
IR/ER Lead
Best & Less Group