About

Following a merger of various government departments in 2012, New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was established as the New Zealand government’s lead business-facing agency tasked with helping the national economy grow with an annual budget of over $4bn NZD. In fulfilling this role, the legal function administers over 140 pieces of legislation across a diverse range of subject areas and is also responsible for the management and oversight of 17 regulatory systems. At the helm of its exceptional legal team is chief legal advisor Ann Brennan, who spearheads a team comprised of 73 members including 64 lawyers organised into four teams – legislation, litigation, commercial, corporate and registries. After merging three distinct legal teams into one, Brennan says ‘over the last two years the focus has been on introducing new ideas, systems and functions necessary to transform the legal team into a cutting edge in-house legal team’. One such change was the implementation of time recording and practice management software which has facilitated the transparency of operations with delivery of services. Other notable changes implemented by the team include the development and of a legal operating model supported by a legal services policy and the ‘introduction of several management frameworks designed to ensure that the legal branch has both functional and subject matter expertise, excellent client relationships, and that the appropriate connections are being made across MBIE business units’. One of the most significant transactions the team has played an integral role in is the development of a regime to deal with Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities and associated international arrangements. It has also supported the government’s response to the Edgecumbe Earthquake including the provision of temporary accommodation, handling the Auckland Crown Land Programme and the Housing Infrastructure Fund, handling the annual petroleum block offers, the development and Implementation of Health and Safety at Work Act 2016 and pay equity legislation and initiating and successfully conducting ‘precedent setting litigations’ in the employment and immigration areas. Summing up the team’s ethos, Brennan says ‘the MBIE legal branch takes an agile approach to partnering with its clients to achieve their objectives while balancing the legal needs of the organisation, an approach which is built on a culture of innovation and collaboration, void of hierarchy, of which the client is central.’ To achieve this, team members are focused on building client relationships based on dependability, delivery and a “can and will do” attitude. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed by the wider organisations as a number of the legal staff have also been appointed as members of MBIE’s expert groups that are charged with bringing intellectual leadership to particular subject areas. Outside of the Ministry, MBIE Legal also support the broader Government Legal Network and New Zealand Law Society through membership of governance groups, leadership and membership of practice interest groups and of specific initiatives.