In-house lawyers rate work/life balance as the main reason for wanting to stay with their current employer, while the people they work with are most important for lawyers in firms, the New Zealand Law Society and Hays Legal Salary Guide 2016 shows.

The Guide has been released by the Law Society and legal recruitment specialist Hays Legal. It presents results of a June 2016 survey which was completed by nearly 2,000 lawyers employed in-house and in law firms.

The President of the In-house Lawyers Association of New Zealand (ILANZ), Katie Elkin, says a high 62% of in-house lawyers who were not considering a new role gave “work/life balance” as the main reason for staying. This was followed by “people you work with” (41%), career opportunities (32%) and further experience (32%).

“Of in-house lawyers, 32% said they were considering a new role – compared with 27% of lawyers working in law firms,” she says.

“The main reasons for in-house lawyers considering a change were career opportunities (64%), salary (44%) and further experience (42%). The first two were the main reasons for lawyers in firms also, but 37% of lawyers in firms were considering a change for work/life balance compared with 24% of in-house lawyers.”

Dr Elkin says the survey showed a clear difference between the legal team growth expectations of in-house lawyers and those working in law firms.

“While 51% of lawyers in firms expect the number of lawyers employed by their organisation to grow, just 22% of in-house lawyers expect growth in their legal team.”

The survey is available on the Law Society website here.

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