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Why choose Lane Neave - the lowdown

Grow with us

At Lane Neave it’s about doing great work and having an enjoyable time doing it. You won’t spend all day bent over the photocopier. Your work will include connecting with great clients and you’ll have the opportunity to be involved in some complex cases.

We’ll help you develop the career you want and encourage you to follow your passion. You’ll rub shoulders with people from every practice area and develop a wide range of skills that will help kick-start your career.

The Lane Neave Way

And it’s not just all talk – at Lane Neave we walk the walk, championing principles of equality and diversity that result in a welcoming, friendly and non-hierarchical working environment. There is a formal diversity policy and we have long had a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination. At partner level, we have an equitable gender balance. In addition, our flexible work policies highlight that work-life balance is not just an important aspect of our culture, it’s baked into the way we work.

So, we work hard, but we also reckon that it’s important to have a pleasant working environment and a fulfilling life outside the office. And that might mean hanging out with colleagues out of hours, including at weekly social events and regular firm parties, or taking part in activities that are linked to being a responsible corporate citizen.

Corporate Social Responsibility

We have a commitment to empowering, enhancing and supporting the communities in which we live and work, and promoting environmental restoration and sustainability. See here for more details.

Diversity and Inclusion

Parents & Carers

The Flexible Work and Work-Life Balance Policy was developed to support the implementation of flexible working arrangements; Flexible work-life balance is about effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people such as time with family, participation in community activities, sporting pursuits, voluntary work, personal development, leisure, and recreation or just the flexibility of having time to attend appointments and to take care of oneself, family and friends.

This policy allows for the following.

  • Flexi-hours – employees can select the work pattern that best suits his/her personal needs to allow for a better balance between work and family responsibilities.
  • Flexi-location – employees can choose options of working from home, or another location outside of the workplace, on a part or full-time basis.
  • Flexi-worksite – essentially hot-desking, to encourage collaboration across workgroups and teams.
  • Flexi-career – provides options for a gradual return to work after parental or other leave – eg, sabbatical, work transition, phased return, job rotation.

Gender Equality

We are absolutely committed to creating an inclusive environment and promoting the advancement of female lawyers. Our numbers speak for themselves:

  • 70% of all staff are female;
  • 33% of all Partners are female;
  • 57% of managers are female; and
  • 50% of Board members are female.

66% of our promotions in 2020 were women, with one of these promotions for someone on parental leave. This is the third promotion during a parental leave period in two years, recognising the importance of creating an environment that supports women to take time off for parental leave, without concern of it harming their career progression of value to the firm.

Awards accreditations and memberships

  • Signatory to the NZLS Gender Equality Charter since 2018
  • Signatory to the United Nations’ initiative Women’s Empowerment Principles in New Zealand
  • Member of Diversity Works New Zealand

Māori & Pasifika

Recruitment

The firm has an affirmative action approach to the recruitment of Māori and other minorities, with changes made to the recruitment process to include a Kaupapa Māori approach and remove bias. The firm’s ambition is to fully tap the capabilities of everyone and better reflect the communities it serves.

Te reo Maori

The firm recognises the importance of weaving te reo Maori into everyday usage, as well as celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori.

We are working with an external consultant to guide us on our te ao Māori journey, including on the ways we can improve our professional and personal use of te reo Māori.

Matariki

We introduced a programme of events in 2021 aligned to Te Iwa o Matariki (the nine stars of Matariki). This programme ran over three weeks, starting on the shortest day as a ‘winter warmer’, to not only support staff wellbeing but also increase our shared understanding of the Maori worldview and the Māori philosophy of hauora. Events included: a lunchtime seminar and guest speaker on the origins, importance and meaning of Matariki; winter hikoi, with maps specially created to guide staff to local points of cultural interest in each of our four locations; and a Matariki quiz.