Practical Guidelines for New to Inhouse Lawyers

 

Kia ora!  Inhouse lawyers are the fastest growing sector of the New Zealand legal profession, with over 5,000 lawyers now working within organisations.

It’s a different kind of lawyering, so we’ve assembled some practical guidelines for those starting or who are considering, the inhouse path – a route which offers the chance to shape strategy, influence decisions, and grow as a leader.

Here’s some pointers on what to expect.

Mindset Shift: From Legal Expert to Strategic Business Partner

Transitioning from a law firm to an inhouse role requires a fundamental change in mindset:

From perfection to pragmatism

• Inhouse work often values speed and clarity over exhaustive legal notes. Bullet points and business-friendly advice are imperative. 
  
  

From reactive to proactive

• Don’t wait for legal issues to arise—anticipate them by joining discussions early and proposing solutions aligned with business goals. 
  
  

From legal silo to cross-functional collaborator

• Build relationships across the business to understand their goals and challenges. This helps legal become a facilitator, not a block.
  
  

From case-specific to long term risk management

• Many of your stakeholders will be repeat players.  Focus on maintaining sustainable relationships and identification of overall organisational risk.

 

Practical Tips for Settling In

Learn the Business

• Spend time with frontline teams to understand how the company operates.
   
• Read annual reports, industry publications, and competitor analyses.
  
  
• Ask people what keeps them up at night and what excites them about the business.
  
  
• Learn to communicate with employees at all levels of the business.
  
  

Build Relationships Early

• Get to know your manager’s leadership style and expectations.  Suggest a 30/60/90-day onboarding plan.
  
  
• Say ‘yes’ to meetings.  Be visible, approachable and curious.  Have lots of informal discussions and join cross-functional meetings.  What do they do?  How can you help them?  Shadow people. 
  
  
• Build relationships and trust, and encourage people to talk to you if they sense the possibility of any type of legal issue arising.
  
  
• Sit with different teams on a regular basis.
  
  
• Understand their strategic priorities.                                 
  
  
• Ask people to tell you what they think your role is.
  
  
• Join briefings with external counsel

Learn to Communicate with Influence

• For a business, frame legal advice in terms of business impact: cost savings, risk mitigation, or growth enablement 
  
  
• For a public sector agency, consider your authorising environment, including public interest and any relevant political context or drivers
  
  
• Use concise formats—emails, bullet points, and short calls instead of lengthy documents
  
  
• Tailor your message to your audience (e.g. Finance vs HR vs CEO)

Champion Legal Operations and Technology

• Identify repetitive tasks that can be automated (e.g. contract workflows, document review). 
  
  
• Use dashboards and KPI's to track legal performance and demonstrate value.
   
• Propose tools that improve efficiency and reduce bottlenecks.
  
  
• Advocate the use of AI. 
  
  

Professional Development & Growth

• Join ILANZ’s “New to In-House” satellite group for peer support, connection and learning. 
  
  
• Seek mentoring from experienced in-house counsel through the New Zealand Law Society’s mentoring programme.
  
  
• Attend business focused programmes like the Deloitte ‘Know your Numbers’ workshop run inconjunction with ILANZ, influencing and communication skills and leadership courses.
  
  
• Check the ILANZ website for our professional development offerings including the Career Development Framework.

 

Common Challenges

Balancing Legal Risk with Business Goals

Situation:     Business teams may want fast decisions, while legal needs time to assess risk.

Tip:                 Offer tiered advice—e.g. “low risk, medium risk, high risk”—to help business leaders make informed choices quickly.

 

Being seen as a Business Partner, not a Roadblock

Situation:     Legal is often perceived as slowing things down.

Tip:                 Use plain language, offer solutions (not just problems), and be proactive in finding ways to enable business.

 

Managing Workload without Billable Hours

Situation:     No time tracking means it’s harder to show value or manage demand.

Tip:                 Track types of requests and time spent to identify trends and justify resources or process improvements.

 

Navigating Ambiguity and Limited Resources

Situation:    In-house lawyers often work with incomplete information or unclear ownership.

Tip:                Build strong internal networks and clarify roles early. Be comfortable making judgment calls with imperfect data.

 

Keeping Legal Knowledge Current

Situation:     Without firm-wide updates, staying current on legal developments can be harder.

Tip:                 Subscribe to legal alerts, join industry groups, and attend webinars or conferences.

Final thoughts

Reflect on what kind of legal work and environment aligns with your values and strengths, and what energises you.

Inhouse lawyering can be a fulfilling and exciting career where you’re not only a lawyer but become a highly valued businessperson.

We wish you well in your decision and/or first steps inhouse and look forward to you joining ILANZ.