I’ve just returned from Ruby Assembly’s first experience of business in Auckland, and I’m buzzing with admiration and strategic fire for New Zealand’s legal culture. With my boots in the worlds of Australian digital strategy and newlaw culture, visiting Aotearoa felt both familiar and refreshingly different. This blog serves to bring together my (admittedly limited!) reflections on Kiwi business culture, law practice, and the wealth of opportunity available for those ready to embrace innovation.
First, let’s talk about the moment in time: New Zealand’s legal culture is defined by warmth, collegiality, and a deep respect for tradition. There’s real value in how things are done—courses with a focus on black letter learning from TLANZ, and a preference for working within established firms rather than breaking out into solo micro-practices. I observed that Kiwi lawyers honour institutional wisdom and bring a humility to the profession that makes collaboration comfortable, welcoming, and positive.
But—as every leader knows—it’s in times of great change that tradition offers both anchorage and a springboard. There’s no denying that certain priorities are still emerging in New Zealand’s law firms: generational change, gender representation, AI technology, and business development are not yet central to daily practice discourse. Nor is there the same momentum toward transparent, plain-speaking service models or flexible billing systems (value pricing over 6-minute increments—a concept familiar in progressive Australian firms).
This is an important moment in time. Kiwi legal culture is poised for a genuine leap forward and massive change.
With attendees of Ruby Assembly’s first Social Media Best Practice Workshop in at TLANZ: Brintyn Smith, Ramya Satiyanathan and Chantal McNaught.
Enter the opportunities for ‘newlaw’ and engagement with digital strategy. For legal practitioners willing to engage with newlaw values (humanism in business, at core) and ready to employ innovative approaches to business development and technology, the legal landscape in New Zealand is ‘greenfields’. This is where difference becomes leadership: by embracing business development, prioritising diversity, and communicating with clients in a transparent, relatable way, firms can move from tradition to transformation.
Digital strategy—especially through the nuanced use of social media—will accelerate this shift. Having spent sixteen years working with lawyers and complex professional services at Ruby Assembly, I’ve observed how it is possible to make business development feel meaningful and authentic. Social media allows practitioners showcase their expertise, humanise their brand, make meaningful connections, and ultimately, to play capitalism on easy mode. It’s not about showing off; it’s about inclusivity, visibility, and referability. Kiwi lawyers who make the leap will become magnets for both new clients and sector recognition.
Imagine the power of a practice where hard-won wisdom meets the creative. Where New Zealand’s characteristic humility is paired with plain speaking, flexible billing, and open engagement online. There is healthy collegiality here and respect for legacy processes—but the future belongs to those ready to introduce new approaches with empathy, intelligence, and a focus on why they practice law.
So, to the early cohort of Kiwi law innovators: yours is a unique moment to lead. Let tradition empower your credibility, and let newlaw, digital strategy, and generational insight accelerate your growth. The market is ready for legal professionals who blend respect and courage, transparency and chutzpah.
New Zealand legal culture is soon to experience generational change in both its leaders and its clientele; Ruby Assembly look forward to working with many more Kiwi firms in this time of flux to democratise access to the law and build robust future-forward practices.
Thank you in particular to Chantal McNaught, whose generosity and open-heartedness made both Yule and my own trip to NZ a really wonderful one. Find her excellent newsletter here.
