Melissa Chester is part of Holland Beckett’s litigation team, based in Rotorua. Melissa joined the firm as a graduate in 2019, after studying Linguistics and French at Massey University Wellington followed by completing her LLB at the University of Canterbury.    

Melissa specialises in civil litigation, providing advice to clients on a wide range of general litigation matters such as commercial and company law, insolvency matters, Harassment Act applications, trusts and estates, contentious relationship property, and employment issues. While Melissa has appeared in the District Court, High Court and various Tribunals, she also enjoys helping clients to consider pragmatic solutions such as alternative dispute resolution.  

An active member of the Rotorua community, Melissa is Chair of the Rotorua Hopewalk Charitable Trust, Former President of Young and Local Rotorua Inc, and a volunteer for Citizen’s Advice Bureau.     

Stevie Shaw studied at the University of Waikato, completing his Bachelor of Laws with Honours alongside a Bachelor of Social Sciences. He joined the Holland Beckett team in Tauranga in 2023, before which he gained considerable experience in employment law teams within larger firms and at a specialist employment boutique firm in Auckland.  

Stevie has broad experience with employment issues, both contentious and non-contentious, but has a particular interest in personal grievances and other employment-related disputes, disciplinary and performance management processes, workplace investigations, restructures, employee/contractor status issues and restraints of trade. He also enjoys working on issues which involve the intersection of employment law with other areas of law, such as contract, tort and equity. Stevie regularly appears in employment mediations and has appeared in the Employment Relations Authority.