Join the Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association for an insightful lunchtime panel discussion hosted by Tompkins Wake, exploring the realities of taking parental leave and returning to legal practice. This will also coincide with the release of the results of AWLA’s 2026 Parental Leave Survey and Promotion of Women Survey.
The panel features both women and men, including rainbow members of the profession, sharing their personal experiences and perspectives on parental leave, recognising that encouraging and supporting fathers and partners to take leave is an important part of achieving greater gender equity in the profession.
Panellists will discuss the workplace policies and practices that helped them successfully navigate time away from work, the challenges they encountered on their return, and where they believe firms and organisations can do better.
Whether you’re a parent, planning to start a family in the future, or simply interested in the conversation around fostering more inclusive workplaces, this session will provide practical insights and thoughtful discussion on one of the profession’s most important workplace issues.
Held over lunchtime to make it accessible for busy practitioners and working parents, we hope you will join us for what promises to be an engaging and valuable conversation.
Panelists:
Pooja Sundar
Pooja Sundar is mum to a four-year-old and two-year-old twins. She took parental leave after both her pregnancies while building and managing her own law firm, which meant learning very quickly that plans rarely survive contact with small children. Along the way, she has navigated pumping while driving, childcare, court deadlines and business ownership, and has become adept at switching between complex legal problems, and complex negotiations about whether anyone really needs to wear shoes when going outside.
Lanu Tuku’aho
While at the Real Estate Agents Authority, Lanu Tuku’aho took six months of parental leave after welcoming her first children, twin girls. Returning to work full-time was challenging and required a significant adjustment, but has been an important experience in learning to balance motherhood with a demanding professional career and more importantly has coloured how she wants to support other parents going through this transition in the future.
Jacob Parry
Jacob Parry is the father of two daughters, 5 and (nearly) 2. When his first daughter, Charlie, was born (on the same day Auckland was placed into a four-month level 4 COVID lockdown), Jacob was a senior associate at MC. After his wife went back to work early the next year, Jacob took several months of parental leave until Charlie was 1 and she began attending daycare. He rates it as one of the best decisions he made.
Stewart Dalley
Stewart Dalley is the proud father of three children, all born through surrogacy. Looking back, the timing was impeccable. He took parental leave following the arrival of each child, but each experience looked very different. His first child arrived while he was still at law school, his second just as he was preparing to start work as a solicitor, and his third during COVID-19 while he was on parental leave. During that leave, Stewart made the slightly unconventional decision to resign and set about building a brand-new law firm. As a result, he has experienced parenthood as a student, a new lawyer and a business owner, and can confirm that none of those life stages are especially compatible with sleep. He looks forward to sharing some of the lessons, surprises and occasional absurdities that came with raising a family while navigating the twists and turns of a legal career.
Light refreshments are included with your ticket, kindly provided by Tompkins Wake. Please email your dietary requirements to admin@awla.nz .
If you would feel more comfortable providing your question in advance, or anonymously, please email your questions to admin@awla.nz .
When: Wednesday, 23 September 2026.
Time: 1:00pm to 2:00pm.
Venue: Tompkins Wake, Level 17 Shortland & Fort, Shortland Street, Auckland 1010
Tickets: FREE for members, $20 for non-members