The New Zealand Law Society Culture Change Taskforce is on track to deliver their strategy for culture and systems change in the legal profession by the end of November.

Chair of the Culture Change Taskforce, Kathryn Beck says since the success of the Culture and Systems Change Symposium in May,  the Taskforce has reflected on the ideas and insights brought up in the meeting.

It has continued to meet monthly as a group to design and develop a strategy to support the creation and maintenance of diverse, healthy, safe, respectful and inclusive legal workplaces.

"The 19 members of the Taskforce valued hearing from leaders of the law profession from all around New Zealand, to discuss the cultural issues that the law profession is facing, in order to develop a relevant and sustainable strategy," she says.

Ms Beck says she strongly agrees with Dame Silvia Cartwright’s statement in relation to the NZLS Working Group Report – that '2018 is a watershed moment in the culture of the New Zealand legal profession.'

“We, as a Taskforce, are committed to building a legal community that we can all be proud of, a community that enables and encourages its people to flourish into the future. That is our vision for this strategy,” Ms Beck says.

However she says, they acknowledge that they can’t do this work alone, and she encourages the legal community to get involved.

"The strategy is a work in progress, designed to benefit everyone in the legal community, so it is important that we hear what you think about our vision, our approach, and how we can work effectively together to support a sustainable and healthy legal community in Aotearoa."

“We want to partner with the legal community to refine the strategy and we plan to engage with the legal profession next year to hear their thoughts,” she says.

In the meantime, Kathryn Beck says people can contact the Taskforce at this address: Taskforce@lawsociety.org.nz.