President's Column - June 2020
Kia ora koutou
Writing your first column as President might feel a bit daunting, but I’m actually feeling pretty grateful and excited as well.
I’m 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 the passion and commitment to the role that Sian did over the last few years, I will be doing well.
I’m also grateful for our new ILANZ committee, which is made up of a talented and and enthusiastic bunch of ILANZ members from around Aotearoa New Zealand. Our in-house community is a diverse group, representing a range of experiences, sectors and backgrounds and reflecting the breadth of the in-house experience.
In terms of other ILANZ executive committee roles, Anitesh Govind has stepped up to fill the Vice President’s role and Jodie Flowerday and Benjamin Jacobs have taken on the roles of 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.
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 had not 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 eager to learn from other in-house lawyers and professionals. We’ll bear this in mind when formulating our revised strategy.
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 contribution 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.
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