New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa, Wellington, or Auckland

About the Law Society

The New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa is the professional body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. The Law Society regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand and is the membership organisation for practising lawyers. With 13 branch offices throughout the country, the Law Society is the Kaitiaki (guardian) of the practise of law in Aotearoa New Zealand and the consumers of legal services.

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional candidate to join our Legal Services team as our new Solicitor.

You’ll be working with a collegial, supportive team of in-house lawyers, within our busy Professional Standards team. Your role will assist our General Manager Professional Standards in the execution, by the New Zealand Law Society, of its statutory regulatory functions.

What you’ll be doing

• Prepare responses to requests from the Professional Standards Group for legal advice and/or guidance.
• Instruct and liaise with external counsel acting for the Law Society and/or Standards Committees or Practice Approval Committees as required.
• Assist with investigations into offences under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006.
• Assist with dissemination and publication of standards committee decisions, LCRO and Tribunal decisions, and Court judgments to the Professional Standards Group, the legal community, and the public.
• Participate in special projects across the Professional Standards Group as requested.

Our ideal applicant will:

• Have a minimum of 3 years legal experience.
• Have sound written and oral communication skills. Written skills must include the ability to produce concise, well-structured, and well-reasoned material and to produce succinct summaries of complex and lengthy complaints. Oral skills must include the ability to communicate clearly with colleagues, members of the profession and members of the public.
• Be prepared to perform under pressure. The Professional Standards Group is required to work to strict timetables, and an ability to meet deadlines and to plan, prioritise and structure workload is required.
• Be flexible in the work they are prepared to undertake.
• Have good judgement and a high level of discretion.
• Be sensitive to the demands of legal practice when dealing with busy committee members and other members of the profession. A professional supportive approach to members of the public is also necessary.

It is important that the Law Society can attract, support, and retain quality staff and one of the ways we can achieve this is by offering employees the flexibility to manage their work/life balance. We embrace flexible working to support our staff to deliver their best and achieve a good work life balance.

Other benefits of working at the Law Society include:

• Three days Special Leave on top of the annual leave entitlement to use during the annual close-down period between Christmas and the new year.
• Flexibility to work from both office and home several days a week, with working from home (WFH) kit provided to each employee, including an allowance towards the purchase of a WFH desk and chair.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) available to all employees.
• Actively fostering the development and career pathways of our employees, alongside a transparent performance review and remuneration appraisal system.
• Competitive remuneration.
• Developing a cohesive workplace culture across our organisation, including celebrating events.

The Law Society is committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion and is keen to ensure that appointments reflect New Zealand’s multicultural society. Applications from a diverse range of backgrounds are encouraged. 

For a confidential discussion or additional information please contact a member of the People and Culture by emailing recruitment@lawsociety.org.nz

View a copy of the position description.

How to apply

If you would like to apply, please complete the application form, found on our website at the above link and submit this together with your cover letter and CV to recruitment@lawsociety.org.nz. Please do not apply using the seek portal as we will only consider applications that have been made to the above email address.

Applications close at 5pm, Wednesday, 29 March 2023.

Applicants for this position should have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa.