Professional background and experience:

Hayley is an attorney with over 20 years of experience, specialising in intersectional discrimination, public interest litigation and employment law. She is also an accredited mediator with a strong track record in providing independent liability assessments and dispute resolution services.

Hayley’s legal expertise spans contracts, employment relationships, workplace systems, disciplinary hearings, investigations, and policy reviews. Additionally, Hayley delivers training seminars that equip participants with relevant legal knowledge and procedural skills to strengthen internal capacity.

Hayley is also highly skilled in addressing sexual and gender-based violence within various legal contexts, including employment law, personal injury law, medical malpractice and family law. Over her career, she has successfully litigated numerous, high profile, precedent-setting cases and resolved sensitive matters through mediation and negotiated settlements.

Mediation experience and style:

Hayley brings a wealth of mediation experience, having successfully mediated complex disputes across a range of sectors. Her mediation approach employs facilitative, transformative, evaluative, and/or narrative styles based on the needs of the parties and the nature of the dispute. Notable examples of her mediation work include mediating high-stakes, sensitive employment disputes involving sexual harassment and discrimination cases, facilitating the resolution of personal injury and medical malpractice disputes, and negotiating settlements in public interest and community-based matters, including those involving socio-political conflict. Hayley’s approach is focused on understanding the broader context of disputes while ensuring a fair process for all parties involved. She excels at helping parties navigate complex, emotional, and high-pressure situations.

Facilitation experience and style:

Hayley is also an experienced facilitator, leading workplace and community-based processes on issues such as employment, gender-based violence, and socio-political conflict. She has worked in transitional and transformative justice contexts, facilitating multi-stakeholder engagements and fostering dialogue between divided groups.

One of her key facilitation experiences includes leading a 3-day multi-stakeholder summit focused on the implementation of sexual offences legislation and service delivery, attended by hundreds of delegates. She has also facilitated engagements across cultural divides in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and South Africa, as well as coordinating multi-party law reform initiatives that required careful accommodation of competing interests.

Chairing enquiries and investigations experience:

Hayley has chaired, investigated, and advised on numerous disciplinary hearings and investigations relating to misconduct and discrimination, including sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination based on sex, gender, race, social origin, disability, and pregnancy. With her extensive experience in employment and labour law, she ensures investigations are thorough, impartial, and aligned with legal and procedural standards.

Comments from clients:

“I found Ms Galgut to be incredibly professional, as well as fair in her handling of a sensitive situation, ensuring that both parties were afforded the opportunity to relay their standings and relevant information.”

“It was a pleasure to work with someone of Ms Galgut’s experience and professionalism.”