The promotions span the firm’s Environment and Planning, Family Law, Corporate and Finance, Litigation, and Property and Commercial teams.

Promoted to Senior Associate: 

Laura Murphy, Senior Associate - Environment and Planning 

Laura has been a member of Holland Beckett's Environment and Planning team since 2020.  

Laura advises clients on complex resource management matters, including consenting processes, planning matters, designations, enforcement proceedings, and major infrastructure and development projects.  

Raised in Tauranga and proud to practise in the Bay of Plenty, Laura has acted on various projects, including fast track and direct referral applications, planning appeals, and Marine and Coastal Area Act proceedings.  

Laura holds an LLB (First Class Honours) and BA from Victoria University of Wellington and is actively involved in the profession as a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s Environmental Law Committee and secretary of the Bay of Plenty Resource Management Law Association. 

Katherine Dyer, Senior Associate - Family Law 

Katherine joined Holland Beckett in 2016 and has built her entire legal career with the firm.

Based in Tauranga, Katherine advises clients on a broad range of family law matters, with particular expertise in relationship property disputes, contracting out and asset protection arrangements, care of children matters, family violence proceedings, Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act applications, and estate and family protection claims.  

Katherine is an experienced advocate who regularly appears in the Family Court and has acted in High Court appeals.

Katherine completed an LLB (Honours) and BA at the University of Auckland before beginning her career with Holland Beckett. Alongside her legal career, Katherine serves the community as volunteer field team leader and Group Secretary for Tauranga Land Search and Rescue.  

Katie Brown, Senior Associate - Family Law 

Katie joined Holland Beckett in 2025, bringing more than a decade of family law experience.

Katie advises and represents clients across a broad range of family law matters including relationship property, contracting out agreements, parenting and guardianship disputes, family violence proceedings, and applications under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988.  

After completing an LLB and BA at the University of Canterbury, Katie began her legal career in Christchurch before returning home to Tauranga. 

Promoted to Associate: 

Cory Lipinski, Associate - Environment and Planning  

Cory is an environment and resource management specialist with expertise across planning, local government and environmental matters. 

After completing an LLB and BA at Victoria University of Wellington, Cory began his legal career in Auckland before returning to Tauranga and joining Holland Beckett's Environment and Planning team. 

He advises a wide range of clients, from private individuals seeking resource consents to organisations undertaking major infrastructure and nationally significant projects. Cory has acted as lead counsel in Council and Department of Conservation hearings and as junior counsel in the High Court. 

Anya Sherwen, Associate - Corporate and Finance 

Anya Sherwen joined Holland Beckett’s Corporate and Finance team in 2024, bringing commercial experience developed across New Zealand and Switzerland. 

After graduating from the University of Otago with honours degrees in French and Law, Anya began her legal career in Wellington with a focus on commercial law. She then spent several years in French-speaking Switzerland, where she completed a bilingual Master of Laws specialising in Business and Tax Law, and International and European Law, before returning to her hometown of Tauranga with her family. 

Anya works closely on the team’s international aviation practice, advising on financing, acquisitions and sales, leasing and lease restructuring. 

Lucy Vala-Blackmore, Associate - Family Law 

Lucy Vala-Blackmore is a specialist family lawyer based in Holland Beckett’s Rotorua office.  

A Rotorua local, Lucy completed her LLB at the University of Waikato before returning home and joining Holland Beckett as a Summer Clerk in 2019. Since then, she has progressed through the firm from graduate to senior solicitor and now associate.

Lucy has developed experience across all areas of family law and regularly appears in the Family Court. 

Lucy is a Lead Provider for family legal aid, serves on the Executive Committee of the New Zealand Law Society Family Law Section, and is a Board Member of Te Wāhi Whakaora Rotorua and District Women's Refuge.  

Lucy has played a role in the growth of Holland Beckett's family law practice in Rotorua and contributes to both the legal profession and the Rotorua community through her governance and voluntary roles. 

Jemma Hollis, Associate - Environment and Planning 

Jemma combines specialist legal expertise with more than a decade of planning and policy experience. 

Her experience spans resource management and planning, public works acquisitions, local government processes, enforcement, and emerging legislative reforms. She has appeared as counsel in the District Court, Environment Court, High Court, and Supreme Court of New Zealand. She has also acted on complex consenting, planning, judicial review, heritage, conservation, and coastal matters. 

Between 2021 and 2024, she worked at a Tauranga-based law firm, providing advice and representation in mediations, hearings, and court proceedings. Before entering legal practice, Jemma spent a decade in planning and policy roles with local and regional authorities in Tauranga and Auckland. During that time, she specialised in notified applications and appeals, regularly providing planning evidence at hearings and in the Environment Court. 

Shannon Eldridge, Associate - Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution 

Dr Shannon Eldridge (Whakatōhea) joined Holland Beckett's Litigation and Dispute Resolution team in Rotorua in late 2024, bringing experience across a diverse range of legal matters. Shannon advises on a broad range of civil disputes as well as criminal, employment and administrative law matters. 

His practice is supported by his academic background, including degrees in Law and Psychology, a Master's degree with First Class Honours in Criminology, and a PhD in Law from the University of Auckland. 

Shannon serves on the Rotorua District Licensing Committee and volunteers his time and expertise with Citizens Advice Bureau. Outside of work, he is also involved in local theatre productions. 

Promoted to Senior Solicitor:

Jayden McNeil, Senior Solicitor - Property and Commercial  

Jayden joined Holland Beckett's Whakatāne Property and Commercial team in 2022 after graduating from the University of Waikato. He thrives in the diverse nature of practice Whakatāne offers.

His practice spans commercial, property, rural, horticultural, forestry and renewable energy matters, with a particular interest in significant land and investment transactions. Jayden also assists clients with succession planning, including estate planning, trusts, wealth transfer arrangements, and succession solutions for family-owned businesses and assets. 

A Whakatāne local, Jayden volunteers with Citizens Advice Bureau and serves as a trustee of the Whakatāne Kiwi Trust.