Peter van Keulen has worked as an employment lawyer in both New Zealand and England. Peter began working as a solicitor at Cavell Leitch in 1995 before moving to the UK to work for a number of years at the London office of Weil Gotshal & Manges, where he headed up their employment team. Peter returned to Cavell Leitch with a wealth of experience and now leads our employment practice from the city office.
Peter understands that clients need clear legal advice when dealing with employment issues but this advice cannot exist in isolation to the practical issues that are inherent in any employment relationship. Peter is adept and understanding at balancing those issues and is recommended for his straightforward approach.
Peter's experience covers day to day HR advisory work, including drafting and negotiating employment agreements, advising on and implementing HR practices and policies, statutory and regulatory compliance, workplace issues and termination procedure, and company asset protection (restraints of trade or restrictive covenants, confidential information obligations and IP issues).
Peter's expertise in contentious employment matters extends to a range of disputes covering all facets of employment law but he is particularly strong in the area of termination of directors' or senior managers' employment contracts including disputes over share options and bonuses. Peter is a strong advocate of alternative dispute resolution where it will advance his clients interests and he has extensive experience in representing clients in negotiations and mediations.
Peter is also adept at advising corporate employers on employment related risk for corporate deals extending to advice on deal structure, conducting due diligence, advising on transaction documents and advising on post-completion related strategy.
Peter's experience covers employment issues on small business acquisitions (such as owner operator businesses) through to large cross border mergers acting for private equity partnerships and corporate clients. Peter has particular expertise in employment issues arising in the acquisition of distressed assets or insolvent companies having worked on major transactions arising out of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
Outside of work Peter enjoys spending time with his family. They love the great outdoors - camping, walking, cycling, skiing/snowboarding, and playing sports such as tennis and netball. Peter also enjoys running and mountain biking and is a supporter and follower of rugby, football and cricket.
