See the risk. Strengthen governance. Advise with confidence. Your business needs more than a legal answer. It needs a clear way forward. Designed for in-house counsel, this conference puts risk, reform and regulation in a practical commercial context, helping you ask the right questions, strengthen governance and deliver advice that supports confident decisions. From contractual risk and workplace law to psychosocial hazards and privacy, explore the issues that belong on your radar and your organisation’s agenda. Bring digital risk and governance into sharp focus. Explore what separates a well-managed AI rollout from a costly misstep and examine the regulatory risks behind AI-assisted decisions. Put cyber preparedness front and centre: how should your organisation prepare, and what needs to happen in the first 72 hours of an incident? With cyber risks and potential claims firmly in focus, this is your opportunity to connect legal advice, governance and incident readiness before decisions have to be made under pressure. Make proactive risk management a priority.
Friday, 19 March 2027
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD Hours
4.15pm to 5.15pm How to Prepare for and the First 72 Hours of a Cyber Incident
Panellists:
Campbell McKenzie, Director, Incident Response Solutions
Mark Anderson, Partner, Martelli McKegg Lawyers
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and manage contractual risks
- Assess workplace law developments for the coming year
- Examine the reforms relating to work health & safety and psychosocial hazards to be able to implement them and understand the implications
- Navigate governance requirements, privacy assessment processes and enforcement risks
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
Session 1: Managing Risks and Reform: Contracts, Workplace Law, Psychosocial Hazards and Privacy
Session 2: Digital Risks, Liabilities and Challenges for In-House Counsel
Chair: Louise Taylor, Special Counsel, Russel McVeagh
9.00am to 10.00am Contractual Risk Management
Presented by Dr Maria Pozza, Director – Lawyer, Gravity Lawyers
12.15pm to 1.15pm Navigating Privacy
Presented by Dr Maria Pozza, Director – Lawyer, Gravity Lawyers
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
10.00am to 11.00am Workplace Law: What’s on the Radar for 2027
A forward-looking session to highlight anticipated legislative changes, trends, and strategic considerations for employers.
- Legislation that has passed, is in progress, or has been signalled
- Key developments and trends in this space including in terms of claims
- Practical guidance to help employers stay competitive and manage risk and compliance in today’s evolving business landscape
Presented by Kate Ashcroft, Partner, Ashcroft Mitchell McGregor
Learning Objectives:
- Distinguish effective AI rollout practices from approaches that create avoidable risk
- Understand the regulatory landscape for AI, governance needs and enforcement risks
- Identify the steps to prepare for a cyber breach incident and the priorities for the first 72 hours post breach
3.00pm to 4.00pm AI Regulation in New Zealand
New Zealand has no AI-specific legislation, and none is imminent. That does not leave AI unregulated. Existing law already applies to it, often in ways organisations have not anticipated. Examine the regulatory risks AI creates for organisations, and what in-house counsel should be watching in 2027, including:
- Copyright: who owns AI-generated material, and the risks of models trained on third-party works
- Consumer law: Fair Trading Act exposure from overstated AI claims and chatbot representations
- Explainability: what organisations should be able to explain about AI-assisted decisions (particularly when relying on decisions in a regulated context)
- Bias: liability for discriminatory automated decisions
- Overseas frameworks: the potential reach of the EU AI Act and other reforms into New Zealand
Presented by Richard Massey, Partner, Bell Gully
11.15am to 12.15pm WHS and Psychosocial Hazards
Presented by Sanja Marin, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
2.00pm to 3.00pm A Tale of Two Rollouts: the Same AI tool, Done Well and Done Badly
- I take one integration from the first vendor demo through to go live, and run it twice: once where it holds up, and once where it doesn't
- What to settle before anyone signs, covering the contract terms that matter for AI, the vendor's security, the sub-processors sitting behind the tool, where the data goes and whether it trains the model
- The privacy work that runs alongside it, including a privacy impact assessment scaled to the risk, data minimisation, and the changes the tool forces in your privacy policy, collection notices and customer terms
- What real transparency looks like to customers and staff, and what it costs to put right once the tool is already live
Presented by Rachel O’Brien, Founder and Director, O’Brien Legal
Presenters
Louise Taylor, Special Counsel, Russel McVeaghLouise Taylor is a special counsel in Russell McVeagh's Technology and Digital team. She is also Deputy Chair of the AI Forum of New Zealand and has been a member of its Executive Council since 2018. She has over 20 years' experience in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom, advising on a wide range of general commercial and technology-related projects and contracts in the public and private sectors. Louise also advises on technology and digital compliance issues, including those relating to the introduction of new technology solutions and services in New Zealand. Louise co-authored the New Zealand technology chapter in the Legal 500: TMT Country Comparative Guide 2021, was named as one of NZ Lawyer's Most Influential Lawyer's 2021 in the Changemaker category and is listed in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a Rising Star – Technology, Media & Telecommunications, 2020.
Campbell McKenzie, Director, Incident Response Solutions
Campbell is the Founder and Director of Incident Response Solutions Limited, providing forensic, cyber security and crisis management services. Campbell was previously a Director at PwC New Zealand (12 years) and led PwC's national "forensic technology" practice, and the Auckland "cyber security" practice, a combined team of 11 expert staff. Prior to PwC, Campbell was a founding member of NZ Police's Electronic Crime Laboratory (4.5 years) and as an expert witness, he specialises in electronic investigations, cybercrime incident response and eDiscovery matters. He is recognised by the District and High Courts of New Zealand as a forensic technology expert and has also been appointed as an independent expert by the High Court. Campbell understands how critical it is for law firms to mitigate the cyber risks they face. Therefore in 2020, Incident Response Solutions published the "Cyber Security Guide for NZ Law Firms", a contextual resource to assist lawyers and law firms manage their cyber security risk.
Sanja Marin, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
Sanja is a specialist health and safety lawyer with significant experience across New Zealand and Australian jurisdictions. She has previously worked as a prosecutor for WorkSafe New Zealand and the New South Wales health and safety regulator in Australia. She has also worked and as a senior legal advisor for WorkSafe providing legal advice on commercial, operational, regulatory, legislative, public law, and criminal law matters.
Richard Massey, Partner, Bell Gully
Richard Massey is a partner at Bell Gully, specialising in evolving regulation in financial services regulation and consumer credit law. He has extensive experience advising clients on compliance with the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act and regularly assists lenders and financial institutions with navigating complex regulatory requirements. Beyond the CCCFA, Richard’s practice areas span fintech and payments, open banking, privacy and data, AI and the regulation of emerging technologies.
Kate Ashcroft, Partner, Ashcroft Mitchell McGregor
Kate has specialised in employment and health and safety throughout her career, and is passionate about providing commercially pragmatic, tailored solutions to client issues. Kate acts for employers across a range of industries, giving strategic, compliance and best practice advice on non-contentious matters as well as providing representation in disputes. She regularly presents training and at conferences on employment and health and safety issues. In addition, she is an experienced independent investigator and holds a certificate in workplace investigations from the Association of Workplace Investigators, as the only internationally recognised course of its nature. Kate is a member of the Institute of Directors, is on the Bay of Plenty Branch Committee of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRNZ) and is a Trustee of Baywide Community Law Service Kate works between Auckland & Tauranga and connects with clients throughout New Zealand
Rachel O’Brien, Founder and Director, O’Brien Legal
Rachel O’Brien is the Founder and Principal of O’Brien Legal, a specialist privacy and data law firm focused on privacy, data governance, and technology driven commercial arrangements. She has over 16 years’ experience advising organisations in New Zealand and internationally, across top tier law firms and senior in house roles. Most notably, she spent five years as Head of Legal at BNZ, where she also served as Privacy Officer and Data Protection Officer, leading the design and implementation of an organisation wide privacy and data governance programme in a highly regulated environment. Rachel works directly with clients, providing senior, legally accountable advice that is practical, defensible, and aligned to operational realities. Her practice spans complex privacy impact assessments, data intensive technologies including AI and biometrics, serious privacy incidents, employee and student privacy matters, and high risk commercial and technology contracts. She regularly advises boards and executive teams on privacy governance, regulatory exposure, and managing risk in fast changing digital environments. Known for her pragmatic and collaborative approach, Rachel focuses on building privacy capability that enables safe innovation while maintaining public trust. She embeds fairness, transparency, and resilience into governance frameworks so they can withstand regulatory and public scrutiny. Rachel is a Fellow of Information Privacy, holds CIPP/E and CIPM certifications, and is an ANZ IAPP Board Member. She brings a rare combination of legal rigour, operational experience, and commercial insight to her work in the privacy and education sectors.
Dr Maria Pozza, Director - Lawyer, Gravity Lawyers
Dr Maria Pozza is a seasoned corporate and commercial Lawyer in New Zealand. She’s the director of law firm - Gravity lawyers. Maria has a wealth of experience as both a private and in-house practitioner with a passion for contracts. Her goal is to simplify the complexities around contracts for her clients. Her expertise extends to space law, cyber, tech, IT, data and privacy.
Mark Anderson, Partner, Martelli McKegg Lawyers
Mark is a leading dispute resolution lawyer providing pragmatic commercially driven solutions for domestic and international businesses. His clients span New Zealand, Australia and Asia Pacific where he has managed some of the most complex crisis incidents in the region and assisted clients through the New Zealand Courts. Mark is an exceptional legal strategist, tailoring response to small and large scale cases. He has led a New Zealand and Australian team working in commercial and risk compliance, insurance, board governance and advisory, tech & cyber incident response, aviation, and regulatory response. He is a trusted adviser with more than 25 years' experience.
