In-house Insider ? June 2020: Reflecting on our past, preparing for the future

Kia whakatomuri te haere whakamua / We honour and learn from our past as we move to the future.

Kia ora koutou

Writing my first column as the President of the In-house Lawyers Association of New Zealand (ILANZ) feels a bit daunting, but I’m feeling grateful and excited too. Grateful for the ILANZ Presidents who have come before me, especially the force of nature that is our immediate past President, Sian Wingate. If I can bring a fraction of Sian's passion and commitment to the role, I will be doing well.

A fond farewell to our departing committee members

Sian already said goodbye to our recently-departed committee members, but I wanted to honour and acknowledge their work as well. Along with Sian, we thank and farewell the outgoing ILANZ committee members from the 2018 committee, including Vice President Mark Wilton, Secretary Christopher Guy, Treasurer Grant Adam and committee members Caroline Beaumont, Beverley Curtis, Donna Llewell, Caroline Sigley, Jeremy Valentine, Hiramai Rogers and Herman Visagie. Your talent and efforts have continued to lean ILANZ forward as an organisation, and you have left us with a strong foundation from which to keep growing.

Say hello to your new ILANZ Committee

I’m grateful to be working with our new ILANZ committee, which is made up of a talented and enthusiastic bunch of ILANZ members from around Aotearoa New Zealand. Our in-house community is a diverse group, representing a a range of experiences, sectors and backgrounds -- reflecting the breadth of the in-house experience. I'm joined on the committee by Anitesh Govind from Auckland Council, Jodie Flowerday from University of Canterbury, Benjamin Jacobs from Xero, Sian Atkinson from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Lynda Frew from Scion, Lyn Wain from IRD, and Frieda Winstanley from New Plymouth District Council.

On the ILANZ executive committee, I'm joined by Anitesh as Vice President, and Jodie and Benjamin as Secretary and Treasurer respectively. It is fantastic to see these members stepping into important roles that will help ILANZ deliver on its vision to connect, support and lead our in-house community through 2020 and beyond.

Reflecting on our past, preparing for the future

One of our first tasks for the new committee over the next few months will be to set our strategic direction for the next two years. We’ll be reflecting on progress made over the last two years and refining our strategy in a time when our best-laid plans have been overtaken by a global pandemic we could not have envisaged a year ago. Regardless of where we land on the strategy, we know that in-house lawyers want to connect and support each other, and are keen to learn from other in-house lawyers and professionals. We’ll bear this in mind when formulating our revised strategy.

 Advocating for the in-house community

Alongside this big-picture thinking, the committee has already been busy on your behalf with work underway on an ILANZ submission as part of the consultation on the New Zealand Law Society Rules of Client and Conduct Care and CPD Rules changes. We also encourage you to submit your individual response to these changes by completing the rules consultation survey form. 

Work is also underway on our contrbution to the Law Society submission on the High Court Rules Committee consultation regarding costs for litigants in person.  

Thank you to those who have responded to our call for contributions to both of the above. We will share our submissions with ILANZ members once completed.

Until next time

Next month I’ll be highlighting some ways we will be showcasing the work of members of the in-house community.  In the meantime, be kind to yourself and those around you at work as we continue returning to the office and adjusting to our new normal. And if you’ve never tried mindfulness, check out this month’s featured TED Talk for a great introduction to the power and practice of mindfulness:

Noho ora mai rā / Take care

Grant

ILANZ is a section of the New Zealand Law Society. ILANZ has been connecting, supporting and leading Kiwi in-house lawyers since 1987.