Danielle Brownlie

Qualifications

Diploma in Business Studies (Human Resource Management)
Massey University

Community Activity

HRINZ – Member

Contact

DDI: +64 7 577 8683
M: +64 27 355 8565
E: danielle.brownlie@hobec.co.nz

Danielle joined Holland Beckett in 2014 as an HR Advisor in the Tauranga office. In April 2019, Danielle was promoted to the role of HR Manager.

Danielle previously worked for Holland Beckett as a Legal Secretary before changing her career path into Human Resources and going to work for a large Bay of Plenty organisation. Having over several years’ experience working in law firms, Danielle brings a unique perspective to her role.

Danielle is the first point of contact for all recruitment related queries and works with the partners in formulating and implementing the firm’s HR strategies.

Danielle Brownlie's News & Resources

Supporting our People, inside and outside of work

For many people, part of the attraction of living and working in the Bay of Plenty is that it is a great place to start and raise a family. Our people love the lifestyle here – and it doesn’t require them to sacrifice great career opportunities. Holland Beckett’s lawyers enjoy challenging, interesting legal work, career progression and satisfaction - they advise large New Zealand and overseas corporates on domestic and international matters, work on major infrastructure projects and with international asset managers, and the firm is on the \'All of Government Legal Services Panel’. At the same time, they have personal lives, families and interests outside of work which also need to be nurtured. Understanding this has led to the creation of a leading Parental Leave Policy, a culture of flexibility and support, and in return the retention of expert senior lawyers and recruitment of legal specialists to the Bay of Plenty. Taking time out from your career, even temporarily, can be stressful and unsettling. Some of our lawyers share how they have navigated this season of becoming parents and what their careers look like now with young children in tow. Sophie Law, an Associate in our Employment Law team, found that one of the biggest challenges in returning from parental leave was finding the right balance. “It was hard to find the right balance between having time at home with my young family and being present at work. Working in an area of law where clients are often in high stress situations, I wanted clients to feel like I was also sufficiently available for them when they needed.” Family lawyer, Katherine Dyer, also an Associate, found similar challenges upon returning to work as a first-time parent, adjusting to part-time work when she had previously always worked full time. “Previously if I had lots of work on, such as when preparing for a Court hearing, I could simply stay later to get it done, but now I have a hard deadline with a child to collect from day-care.” Holland Beckett’s versatile policy has meant that navigating this new way of working has been less stressful for both. “Flexible working arrangements are essential to my wellbeing and ability to succeed in my job as a working Mum”, says Kat. “My return to work has felt very smooth and I credit this to the ability to work part-time hours (and to gradually increase those when I was ready to). It is helpful to work flexibly, such as completing work at home in the evening once my baby is asleep. I feel so grateful to work for supervising partners who are understanding, empathetic and flexible and who place full trust in me that I will get my work done.” “I don’t think it would be possible to succeed in both of my ‘jobs’ without flexible working arrangements”, said Sophie. “There are often times where I will need to start or finish early as a result of sick children, and there is never any issue of me working flexibly to do my hours outside of normal working hours.” Sophie added, “The additional Paid Parental Leave entitlements provided by the firm were also fantastic. It allowed me to enjoy my time at home, without the financial worries of being without an income for an extended period.” Holland Beckett has a parental leave policy whereby the firm ‘tops up’ the government Paid Parental Leave entitlement so that employees receive the equivalent of their full salary for up to 18 weeks. The policy was created to acknowledge and reinforce the value that the firm has for its people, being that people are our most important asset, and without them we couldn’t provide for our clients. Because of this policy, Kat didn’t feel pushed into returning to work before she was ready to, which she said is “sadly an experience that many other mums I know have had. It made me feel really valued as an employee, and it was also really lovely to still be invited to all the firm social events while I was on parental leave, so I still felt like I was part of the team.” Kat also gave a special shout out to the ‘pumping room’, “the office has a private room for this purpose with lockable door, dedicated fridge and comfortable chair!”. The firm\'s policy also includes that partners of the primary carer are eligible to receive four weeks of paid leave. Partner Will Dymock noted that this time allowed him to “focus solely on spending time together as a family and getting to know our new addition” when his second child was born. “One month off was a game changer for us as it meant that we were well and truly settled as a family by the time I returned to work”. Being adaptable, innovative, and supporting people to succeed both in and outside the workplace has been crucial to the firm\'s success. It has resulted in the high retention of experienced support staff and specialist lawyers who might otherwise have had to take a career break or adjust their family lives in ways that didn’t work best for them. On reflection when asked about her experience, Sophie noted that “I have never been made to feel like me being part time is a burden, or that the firm is in some way doing me a favour by allowing me to work part time in a role which is traditionally full time. The partners are always appreciative of my contributions, however this may look.” Holland Beckett has a great reputation and is viewed as an employer of choice in the legal industry. As well as retaining the experts already here, the firm also attracts specialist lawyers to the Bay of Plenty which you might otherwise only find in the main centers, and so, our clients and community benefit from an expert level of advice in almost any area of law.

Summer Clerk 2024/2025

Holland Beckett runs a summer clerk programme every year from November to February in our Tauranga and Rotorua offices. This is a great opportunity for students in their penultimate year of study, to work in one of Bay of Plenty’s top law firms alongside some of the Bays’ best solicitors. Watch the video to learn more about our summer clerk programme: As a summer clerk at Holland Beckett, you will get to experience work in our Property, Commercial, Corporate, Litigation, Family, Employment and Resource Management practice areas, have ongoing technical and soft skill training, meet some great people and have all the benefits of working in a large provincial firm. Our aim is for each of our summer clerks to have a great summer, get to know our firm, our people and our culture and values. Benefits We aim to be an employer of choice for the most talented people. As a summer intern, on top of a competitive salary, you’ll receive: Paid Christmas leave Invitations to social events throughout the summer, allowing you to meet other staff and summer interns Invitations to team and firmwide Christmas events Team community days Involvement in our sports teams Attendance at professional development/leadership webinars and seminars One-on-one time with Partners Key dates *Applications are closed for our 2024/2025 summer clerk programme. Who can apply? Our 2024/2025 summer clerk programme will be aimed at law students in their penultimate year of study and who can join us as a Law Clerk in February 2026. Successful applicants will: Have an acceptable grade point average Have good communication skills Be driven, self-motivated and enthusiastic How to apply *Applications are closed for our 2024/2025 summer clerk programme. Our interview process If you are invited to attend an interview, we will be in touch by email and by phone. You will then be provided with more information about the interview process. The first step is a formal interview with two of our partners via Zoom. Our interview style is designed to let us get to know you, and for you to get an understanding of the firm. After the first interviews have been completed, we invite selected candidates to a second interview in person (if this is possible at the time). Interview team Our summer clerk recruitment partners are Thomas Refoy-Butler, Joel Murphy, Leesa Speed, James McDougall and you’ll meet them throughout the process. A member of our HR team will also be available to answer any questions you have about the process. If you have any questions about the summer clerk programme or our application process, please do not hesitate to contact our HR team Danielle Brownlie or Christabel Namburi.

Ngāti Whakaue Internship Programme 2024/2025

He whakatakinga Taiāwhiowhio ana te rere o te kupu mihi ki a koutou. Kua whakarauika i te rā nei. Otirā ki te kaupapa e paihere nei i a koutou. Holland Beckett, in conjunction with Pukeroa Oruawhata Group, introduced a summer clerk programme in 2022 for students who whakapapa to one of the 6 koromatua of Ngāti Whakaue. This is a great opportunity for law students who are in their last two years of study to work in one of the Bay of Plenty’s top law firms alongside some of the Bays’ best solicitors. Our Ngāti Whakaue Internship Programme will run at the same time as our annual summer clerk programme over the university summer holidays. As an intern at Holland Beckett, you will get to experience real-world work, have ongoing technical and soft skill training, meet some great people and have all the benefits of working in a large provincial firm. Our aim is for each of our interns to have a great summer, get to know our firm, our people and our culture and values. Benefits We aim to be an employer of choice for the most talented people. As a summer intern, on top of a competitive salary, you’ll receive: Paid Christmas leave Invitations to social events throughout the summer, allowing you to meet other staff and summer interns Invitations to team and firmwide Christmas events Team community days Involvement in our sports teams Attendance at professional development/leadership webinars and seminars One-on-one time with Partners Key dates Applications open from 1 February 2024 and close at midday on 28 March 2024. Interviews will be held during April. Offers for Ngāti Whakaue Internship will be made by 1 May 2024 and acceptances due by 12 May 2024. Who can apply? Successful applicants will: Whakapapa to one of the 6 koromatua of Ngāti Whakaue Be in their 3rd or 4th year of law school Have an acceptable grade point average Have good communication skills Be driven, self-motivated and enthusiastic How to apply If you would like to apply for this exciting internship, please visit our Prosple page and hit the \'Apply now\' button, otherwise you can send a copy of your cover letter, CV and academic transcript to careers@hobec.co.nz. Hot tip: your cover letter should record how you intend to leverage off the opportunity to support the vision, mission and values of the Pukeroa Oruawhata Group. Our interview process If you are invited to attend an interview, we will be in touch by email and by phone. You will then be provided with more information about the interview process. The first step is a formal interview with two of our partners via Zoom. Our interview style is designed to let us get to know you, and for you to get an understanding of the firm. After the first interviews have been completed, we invite selected candidates to a second interview in person (if this is possible at the time). If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our HR team Danielle Brownlie or Christabel Namburi. Me mahi tahi tatou mō te orange o te katoa.

Staff Update

We have welcomed the following staff members to Holland Beckett Law in recent weeks. Solicitor Melissa Hunia has joined our Rotorua office and will be working across Property and Civil Litigation matters. She previously spent 14 years as a Primary School Teacher and was also a Deputy Registrar/Court Taker in the Rotorua District Court. Melissa’s whakapapa connections are with Mataatua, Te Arawa and Tainui. Kari Wratten-Lowe joined our Resource Management team as a Solicitor in November. Since graduating Kari has worked in the Wellington Environment Court as a Hearing Manager and then as a Court Registry Officer at the Hamilton District Court. Our Property Law team have recruited law graduate Archit Deshpande. Archit worked part-time at a boutique law firm in Auckland where he became certain that he wanted to pursue a career in commercial and property law. Having completed his professionals, Archit aims to be admitted to the bar early in 2022. Sarah Mason has joined our Tauranga Family Law team. Sarah has recently graduated from Otago University with a conjoint degree in Law and Science, majoring in Psychology. We have also welcomed Law Students for the summer period. This is a fantastic opportunity for our firm to support and develop future lawyers. Our Summer Clerks get to experience what a career in private practice is like and explore different areas of the Law. This year we have welcomed Jessica Smalberger, Claudia Paterson, Vivian Mitchell and Alice Mander to our Tauranga office. Ayla Naidoo and Lauren Chand are getting a similar experience in our Whakatane and Rotorua offices respectively. After more than 10 years service we are saying goodbye to Debbie Grant. Debbie is our afternoon receptionist and is very well known to our clients for her warm welcoming manner. We wish Debbie all the best for her future. Lisa Ingham will be taking over the reins at reception and has already spent a few weeks learning the ropes. Lisa has spent the last seven years running a business with her husband and has a wide range of administrative skills. We also take this opportunity to thank all of our staff for their efforts over the year. Resilience and flexibility have been highly valued attributes in another turbulent year. Merry Christmas everyone.