Angela MacKenzie

From day dot, Angela’s approach to her position as a lawyer has been to cut out all the legal jargon, remain approachable, and never leave a client having to read between the lines. Seeking legal counsel can appear to be a really gruelling process when you’re looking from the outside in, when in fact, there’s no need for it to be. When Angela meets with clients, she acts as a lawyer, but clients who have never reached out to one before wouldn’t know it. Her goal is to make the experience as comfortable and as clear as possible for everyone who walks through her door — that’s how she would want to be treated if she were in her client’s shoes.

With an extensive knowledge of employment and family law, Angela’s attraction to the field has been a result of wanting to help people with everyday issues. It’s all about using common sense to come up with solutions to problems, and keeping clients in the loop and on the same page at every step of the journey. If she wasn’t a lawyer, she would be a teacher, which she now puts into facilitating workshops and seminars for employers.

After starting in employment law in 2004 where she practiced for several years, she then made the jump to family law. A short stint in Australia working as a dairy farmer led her straight back to her roots in law where she has remained ever since. While she practiced primarily family law in Invercargill for several years, in between she joined the team at the Otago Southland Employers’ Association, where she supported the Employer members in all areas of employment law including facilitating their training programme around the Otago/Southland region on a regular basis.

Experience

Angela has previously worked in large and small-scale firms in Dunedin and Invercargill, including the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, ACC in elective surgery claims, Eagles Eagles and Redpath, and in 2022 joined our team as an Associate at PRLaw. In June 2023, she was appointed Counsel for Child. She continues to facilitate workshops with the Southland Business Chamber.

Angela is now also an accredited mediator through Resolution Institute, a well-recognised dispute resolution provider in Aotearoa New Zealand. This means she has completed recognised training and is committed to keep building her skills. It’s simply reassurance that you’re working with someone committed to professionalism, growth, and creating a safe space for constructive conversations.

When she isn’t working, she is busy in her role as Vice President of the Old Boys’ Football Club as well as supporting her husband and son who are heavily involved in the Club too. When she finds some rare spare time, she is at the gym, boxing, playing netball or spending time playing hostess with family and friends,