The 2026 5-Star Employers of Choice report from Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer identifies 32 law firms across Australia and New Zealand as top workplaces, highlighting initiatives focused on employee experience rather than uniform strategies. The report, now in its 11th year, asked firms to submit evidence across 11 areas critical to staff wellbeing, including remuneration, career progression, and flexibility. Winners range from Blackwood Family Lawyers, a 26-person Victorian boutique, to Dentons, with over 630 staff in its Australian operations. What unites them is a commitment to measuring and refining staff experience, often departing from traditional legal industry norms.
Culture-First Approach at Norling Law
In Auckland, New Zealand, Norling Law’s 18-person firm rejects conventional legal industry habits. Chief Operating Officer Glenn Marvin describes their philosophy as a rejection of the default “long hours, do big numbers, grind, grind, grind” approach. Instead, the firm prioritizes productivity paired with personal fulfillment. This strategy has yielded a 39% revenue growth, 60% profit increase, and 44% rise in client engagements over the past year, alongside 90% staff retention.
The firm does not operate a fixed pay-review cycle; as Marvin puts it, “There isn’t really a cycle – there shouldn’t be a cycle. Is somebody delivering over and above value?” Annual performance reviews dedicate roughly 80% of discussion time to values-based reflection, with revenue treated as “almost a secondary consideration.”
Norling Law’s structure includes quarterly one-on-one personal development meetings for every staff member, focusing on alignment with company values. A new career progression framework outlines technical and behavioral expectations at each level, enabling advancement without waiting for annual reviews. Marvin acknowledges, “I would love to think that it was all about helping people out… [but] the reality is, we’re a business, we’re commercially minded, and we’re looking for the best talent.” The firm’s culture-first ethos extends to administrative staff, with a new client care specialist role and progression pathways into legal executive or practice management roles.
Addressing Gender Pay Gaps and Flexibility
In Sydney, Dentons Australia reports a 0% median gender pay gap, attributed to sustained multiyear focus on equity. Human Resources Director Ben Carter credits leadership visibility, including a female chair and chief operating officer, for embedding gender parity across all roles. The firm introduced gender-neutral parental leave two years ago to eliminate career stigma, while actively recruiting men into traditionally female-skewed roles like legal practice assistants. The firm’s approach to DE&I has shifted towards what Carter calls a culture of universal inclusion: “Everyone’s got a voice, everyone has got a story,” rather than events targeted at specific demographic subgroups. That reframing reportedly lifted DE&I-linked event attendance from around 20% up to 80-90%.
Related Post: Australian court sets strict AI rules for lawyers and court
Dentons has avoided a hard return-to-office mandate in favour of “principles or kind of indications,” with Carter reporting that roughly 89% of staff favour the firm’s hybrid model. “We haven’t had to push,” he says, crediting genuine desire to connect in person over any mandate This flexibility aligns with the firm’s gender equity goals, supporting caregivers of all genders. Internally, 87% of leaders participated in recent events to showcase diverse leadership representation. The firm also uses AI tools like Legora and Microsoft Copilot, with Carter emphasizing adaptation over replacement: “It’s not just about the tools; it’s about the people… how they adapt to the technology, how we support them, how we empower them using it.”
Trans-Tasman Talent Drain and Retention Strategies
Gray notes the pattern has been building since at least 2022, driven partly by a flat London legal market redirecting outbound New Zealand lawyers towards Australia instead Some Australian employers counter this by offering packages with extended remote work weeks and paid return flights to New Zealand. Gray highlights that successful retention hinges on maintaining “genuine, judgement-free conversations” about lawyers’ career plans, rather than treating relocation discussions as loyalty issues. Sam Lindsay, a director at Chisholm Clarke, argues that firms should focus on building destinations lawyers want to return to after “the travel itch has been scratched” rather than competing directly with Australian salaries.
Holding Redlich in Sydney demonstrates progress in gender diversity, with 10 of its 12 new partners since July 2024 being women, signaling a shift in partnership demographics. This aligns with broader efforts to address gender imbalances, though the legal sector’s average pay gap remains a persistent challenge according to Workplace Gender Equality Agency data. Firms that integrate flexibility and equity into core operations, such as Dentons’ hybrid model and gender-neutral parental leave, are better positioned to retain talent across regions.
AI Adoption and Structural Challenges in Legal Training
Legal professionals in Australia and New Zealand exhibit notably lower trust in AI integration compared to global peers, with over two-thirds reporting low or no confidence in its adoption, according to LEAP Legal Software data. While firms like Dentons use tools such as Legora and Microsoft Copilot, Lisa Gray warns that junior lawyers with zero to two years’ experience must pivot toward relationship-building and client-facing skills faster than prior cohorts, as AI increasingly handles research and transactional work. This shift is already prompting some newly qualified lawyers to seek roles in regional practices less exposed to AI-driven changes.
Burnout prevention requires addressing structural issues, Lindsay cautions, rather than framing it as a simple firm-versus-lawyer dynamic. Firms making progress monitor capacity and encourage annual leave, while Gray emphasizes tailoring flexibility to individual needs instead of enforcing blanket policies. The disconnect between firm-reported work-life balance satisfaction (up to 97%) and lawyer perceptions (over two-thirds deem the industry unhealthy) shows significant gaps between policy implementation and actual employee experience.
