For Lawyers

The best work of your life – and still a life.

SHIFT Advisory is a new-law firm that gives you the meaningful, high‑impact legal work you crave — on your terms. No sacrifice. No ladders to nowhere. No switching careers. Just work that matters.

At SHIFT, you take on secondments that truly fit your life and ambitions – career‑enhancing and meaningful work, with flexibility, variety, and opportunities built in.

You bring your expertise. We bring energising work, a supportive community, development and career pathways, and the space you need for everything that matters outside of work.

That’s the SHIFT way: brilliant people, brilliant work, brilliant lives.


SHIFT Lawyers:

Respected, experienced, confident and ready to dive in

Value flexibility, autonomy, variety, and a career that flexes with life

10+ years PQE

Brilliant advisory lawyers, executives, specialists and GCs

Various specialities and backgrounds – private practice, in-house, solo practitioners, and General Counsels

Secondments:

Corporates, government, SMEs, start‑ups, and private practice teams

In‑house legal teams

Sole in‑house counsel roles

Project‑based or BAU support

Short‑term, long‑term, fractional

What you get?

A Community — social, supportive, mentoring-rich, and full of people who get it

Work that energises, on your terms — your hours, priorities, secondment, ambition, life!

Support that actually supports — boundaries protected, needs met, confidence to fly

Our hustle, your opportunities — roles, CPD, careers and new doors

Rooms that energise you — events, connection, inspiration

A balanced life (yay!) — freedom, flexibility, and the space to be brilliant in and out of work.

SHIFT Values

Community

Fostering a connected, engaged and supported Community

Authenticity

What you see is what you get – the real deal

Empower

Empowering people to take control of their lives

Courage

Having the courage to lead change by normalising different and innovative ways of working

Problem Solvers

We hit the ground running and get the job done

FAQ (NOT UPDATED – TAKEN FROM MASTER ON ABOUT)

SHIFT Advisory has a lean HQ and a community of exceptional, commercially minded lawyers.

  • Lawyers join SHIFT – employed or contracted, vetted, onboarded, skilled, experienced and ready to get stuck in.
  • Clients tell us what they need — capacity, specialities, cover, uplift – and we scope the solution with them.
  • HQ matches, checks the lawyer(s) is keen and provides a shortlist to the Client. Lawyer chooses role, Client chooses lawyer.
  • Decisions are made – terms negotiated (hours, duration, location, rate) and contracts agreed (lawyer-to-SHIFT, SHIFT-to-Client).
  • Lawyer prepped and seconded into the Client – embedded, practical, experienced support from day one.
  • SHIFT HQ handles invoicing, CPD, variations, and supports both sides throughout.
  • Secondment extends or ends – with feedback provided.
  • Careers and clients evolve with us – clients become lawyers, lawyers become clients, new lawyers and clients join, and everyone connects and grows through our events and training.

At its core: we make it easy for work and life to be better – for lawyers and for client.

SHIFT Advisory is a law firm, with a different kind of operating model. Our lawyers become part of your team. No-hands off advice, no ‘external meetings’, no competing priorities / clients, no gaps in knowledge about your business. They are also senior and experienced – being a more cost effective way for lawyer to be seconded into your team than a junior from a law firm.

It’s also where the legal profession is going. New-law was built because old-law doesn’t work for all for good reasons.

We operate on simple, transparent pricing. No billable units, no surprises. Clients pay for the capability they need, not the overheads of a traditional firm.

All yes. Legal Strategy and building the function – SHIFT Advisory.

For transforming and building ops – SHIFT Consultancy.

Virtual lawyers are….

Yes. All of the above – SHIFT HQ and our lawyers, depending on what is needed, and sometimes in partnership with other experts and clients. Get in touch:

SHIFT lawyers are mostly independent contractors. They choose their work, their hours and their clients. We support them with community, resources, connection and opportunities — not employment constraints.

XX% of their rate is added for xxx.

After 1 year.

Most go contract to contract, some choose breaks to reflect ebbs and flows of life. Some can’t afford breaks – that is a risk right now, but we’re working on a soluiton to give you the assurance that you need.

Community, connection, opportunities, resources, events, and a team that genuinely cares about how work fits into life. SHIFT lawyers are independent consultants.

You apply (and tell us who referred you!), we meet, and if it’s a mutual fit, you join the SHIFT community. From there, we match you with work that aligns with your skills, interests, trajectory, and availability. For autonomy, variety, meaningful work, and a career that flexes with life — not the other way around.

Virtual lawyers are….

TESTIMONIALS

What our Consultants say…

The team at SHIFT got to know me as an individual, and suggested roles which suit my personality as well as my skillset. They provide education seminars for continuing professional development, social get-togethers, and all the usual support you would expect from a law firm, without any of the drawbacks. It’s the best of both worlds.
Vicki Slater, Alumni SHIFT Consultant
Working with SHIFT was like finding the perfect colleague, boss and friend all rolled into one. Prue has an exceptional ear and will take the time to listen to your values, motivations and career ambitions before recommending any particular course of action. This makes her (and the whole Team) unique in that advice and support is tailored specifically to you. I can’t recommend SHIFT and their kaupapa highly enough.
Charlette Bunn, Alumni SHIFT Consultant
I first approached SHIFT when I was looking for a change in career direction – only I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go!  Prue took a genuine interest in my situation, had great contacts and gave me the courage to explore options I would not have previously considered.  I’ve since had three roles with SHIFT – each of them a great personal and professional fit.  I couldn’t recommend Prue and the SHIFT Team highly enough!
Claire Woods, Alumni SHIFT Consultant
The SHIFT team are amazing with their network and connections; they are so plugged in to what’s going on across the market. I was also impressed by how much patience and persistence they had to find the ideal role for my requirements, rather than just filling a short-term client need.
The flexibility you have through SHIFT allowed me to work part time, remotely and with the freedom to take off the whole summer. You have that added peace of mind that you’ll then be placed back into a suitable role without fear of being disconnected from the market.
Pip White, Alumni SHIFT Consultant