Meet the EMA's Legal Team

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Legal

Meet the Legal Team

The EMA Legal Team do more than just take a case – they’ll help you solve problems and build your business.

Give us a call on 0800 300 362 between 8am-8pm Mon-Thu and 8am-6pm Fri.

Mauro Barsi

Head of Legal, Consultancy and General Counsel

Mauro is an experienced advocate for businesses and employers and a trusted advisor when you need it most. He brings a powerful mix of practical knowledge in Employment Relations and Human Resources, litigation experience; and time spent as a senior leader in both the public and private sectors, all to help resolve your issues quickly and effectively. Having worked in-house with organisations to manage growth and transformation projects, his broad business management knowledge means he brings an overarching approach to issues. Mauro helps businesses shape their organisations through strategy, bargaining, restructuring and the implementation of new people structures, through to managing personal grievances, investigations, and employment disputes.

Sarah Lim

Senior Associate

Beverley Edwards

Senior Solicitor

Tilly Smith

Solicitor

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Mauro Barsi

Head of Legal, Consultancy and General Counsel

Mauro is an experienced advocate for businesses and employers and a trusted advisor when you need it most. He brings a powerful mix of practical knowledge in Employment Relations and Human Resources, litigation experience; and time spent as a senior leader in both the public and private sectors, all to help resolve your issues quickly and effectively. 

Having worked in-house with organisations to manage growth and transformation projects, his broad business management knowledge means he brings an overarching approach to issues. Mauro helps businesses shape their organisations through strategy, bargaining, restructuring and the implementation of new people structures, through to managing personal grievances, investigations, and employment disputes.

Sarah Lim

Sarah is a senior employment lawyer who advises on all aspects of contentions and non-contentious employment matters. She is passionate about advocating for our members in employment matters and resolving the issues with a commercially pragmatic approach.

Sarah frequently advises her clients on restructures, employee vs contractor status risks, behavioural and performance issues, medical incapacity, and health and safety matters. She is confident in reviewing contracts and ensuring compliance and best practice and has represented clients at mediations and hearings in the Employment Relations Authority. Sarah also has experience in carrying out employment due diligence for high-value commercial transactions and ensuring that her clients meet all of the employer obligations throughout the sale and purchase process.

Beverley Edwards

Senior Solicitor

A self-confessed pragmatic problem solver, Beverley works collaboratively with businesses across the spectrum of contentious and non-contentious Employment Relations issues. A specialist in investigations, she assists members with the tricky processes of disciplinaries, performance, restructuring, and incapacity processes. Underpinning these contentious procedures, she drafts employment agreements and policies across many issues such as drug and alcohol testing, surveillance and social developments.

She frequently represents clients in dispute resolution matters, including mediations and in the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. An admitted solicitor in New Zealand and South Africa, in her previous life Beverley has prosecuted on behalf of the South African State and worked as Legal Counsel for a multi-national music conglomerate. She has been a law lecturer the past decade and is an ardent community law supporter.

Tilly Smith

Solicitor

Tilly studied a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts at the University of Otago, and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in September 2024.

She began her career with EMA in June 2024 as an Employer Advisor on the AdviceLine, where she provided real-time advice to members on employment legislation, HR practices, and compliance matters. This role developed her ability to think on her feet and deliver practical solutions to a wide range of employment issues.

In July 2025, Tilly joined EMA Legal, where she often supports clients by drafting and reviewing employment agreements and workplace policies. She is passionate about building strong relationships with EMA members and applying her legal expertise to help them navigate workplace challenges.

Tilly has also assisted in editing the popular EMA Employer Bulletin, as well as providing members with video updates of recent case summaries.