Should you stay in private practice or move inhouse
Weighing the trade offs, when to switch and what to expect if you return
For many New Zealand lawyers the choice between private practice firm life and an inhouse role can shape your entire career. Both paths offer real advantages and real compromises. The right direction depends on your career stage, your appetite for pace and your long term goals. So it’s worth looking closely at private practice or move inhouse can offer before you decide.
What private practice offers
Private practice gives you variety and challenge, and it often offers the clearest path to higher earnings over time. You work with a wide mix of clients and issues, so you sharpen your technical skills and build experience quickly. The pace can lift your confidence and push your development.
Ambitious lawyers often choose private practice because it can lead to senior roles and partnership sooner than most in house pathways. The financial upside at senior levels can be significant, and the structure in many firms supports that progression.
Private practice also offers strong mentoring, because you learn from senior colleagues who have seen almost every scenario. Many firms run formal training programmes that keep you moving forward.
The demands are clear. Hours can stretch, expectations can rise and billable targets can pull your focus. Some lawyers thrive on that intensity, but others look for more balance.
What inhouse roles offer
Moving inhouse puts you inside the heart of a business, and it changes how you use your legal skills. You gain more predictable hours and less pressure around time recording, so many people find a better rhythm for their personal lives.
You also see how legal advice feeds into commercial strategy, because you sit alongside decision makers. That perspective builds your commercial judgement and can reshape your view of risk and value.
Many inhouse roles now offer competitive packages. Benefits, flexibility and stability are common, and these elements support lawyers at different life stages. For many people it becomes a long term and rewarding choice.
The trade offs are real. Work can narrow because you serve one organisation, and you may miss the breadth that firm life offers. Teams are often small, so progression can slow and you may have fewer mentors to learn from. Smaller legal teams can also face pressure during restructures or budget shifts.
Early career lawyers should weigh this carefully, because private practice often builds technical depth faster.
When to make the switch
Most lawyers who move inhouse in New Zealand do so around the three to five year PQE mark. At that point you bring enough technical strength to stand confidently in a business, and you still have room to grow with the organisation.
You might look at inhouse options because you feel burned out, or because billable hours no longer serve your priorities. A shift can make sense if you want more balance or want closer involvement in the commercial side of decisions.
Staying in private practice can be the better choice if you want to keep building technical ability or if you aim for partnership. More time in a firm can consolidate your expertise before you broaden into business focused work.
A secondment into an inhouse team can be helpful. It gives you insight into culture, pace and expectations before you commit to a full move.
Can you return to private practice after inhouse
A return is possible, and many lawyers have made the move successfully. Firms look for signs that you have kept your technical skills sharp, so ongoing learning is important. You can also stand out if you bring sector insight or strong commercial judgement.
That said, returning gets harder the longer you stay inhouse. If you drift from technical practice or lose touch with developments in your area, it can take time to rebuild credibility. Planning ahead helps you keep doors open.
Salary landscape and market snapshot
Inhouse salaries vary widely across sectors in New Zealand. Legal Counsel roles can sit around the lower to mid professional bands, and senior roles can rise well into the higher ranges within larger organisations. General Counsel positions in major enterprises can reach the top end of the market although there are a limited number of these in New Zealand.
Private practice can match or exceed these figures, especially once you rise into senior associate or partner roles. Firm size, practice area and city location all influence the upper ranges.
For more tailored advice get in touch with one of us today
Final thought
There is no single correct answer to the question should you stay in private practice or move inhouse. Your decision should reflect where you want your career to head in the next five to ten years. You may also want to think about how technology will reshape the legal jobs market because AI is already influencing both private practice and inhouse teams.
In private practice, AI is expected to pick up parts of transactional and litigation processes. This shift will free lawyers to focus more on advisory work and strategy, so firms will look for lawyers who can add insight rather than volume. Inhouse teams are likely to see AI create efficiencies across regulatory, compliance and risk functions, which means legal counsel will spend more time guiding commercial decisions and less time on manual tasks.
If you want variety and technical challenges, a firm may suit you. If you want stability, balance and commercial exposure, an in house team may be the right step. Many lawyers move between both and build successful careers because they stay open to change and choose what aligns with their goals at each stage.
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