The fresh dawns of mid-winter welcome the Matariki cluster to the skies, heralding Te Mātahi o te Tau, the Māori New Year. The three major principles underpinning traditional Matariki celebrations are:

Remembering those who have passed—It can be comforting to have a collective time to remember those who have passed, especially since the last rising of Matariki. We take the time to honour those who were dear to us, and those in our communities. 

Celebrating the present—We are fortunate to be able to celebrate the present, both with gatherings, and moments of connection. This month, we're able to share key takeaways from recent connection and learning events; the ILANZ 2024 Conference; and Juno Learning: Resilience. 

Planning for the future— A new year offers a chance to look to the future with a sense of hope and anticipation. Doing the mahi now for sustainable and well-researched futures are Sarah Rees, In-house Counsel at OneFortyOne New Zealand Ltd, and the ESR legal team.

Traditionally, clear and bright stars promised a warm and abundant winter. We hope that bright stars and sustaining celebrations will be present for you and your communities over the coming month.

Mānawatia a Matariki.

To honour, acknowledge, and welcome in Matariki.

In the spotlight: Sarah Rees 

Sarah Rees shares about her journey from predominantly external counsel roles to being the sole Senior Legal Counsel at OneFortyOne New Zealand Ltd, and working with the team across the Tasman.

"It has been a new experience for me to sit with people who really care about the product, which underlines their jobs, too - those involved in day-to-day forestry here are genuinely passionate about trees."

READ IN THE SPOTLIGHT HERE

The legal team at the Scientific Research Institute (ESR) supports the institute's work, which contributes significantly to public health, forensic science, and environmental safety. They share with us about proactive and reactive work, the challenges, and supporting each other in their close-knit team. 

"Our days are filled with challenging and interesting work. We love that we get to work with smart scientists who are passionate about science and doing public good every day!"

READ THE TEAM OVERVIEW HERE

Cello mitigates risk by bringing legal to the table

Cello is a New Zealand-based telecommunications company that provides network solutions to business customers and has rapidly transitioned from a startup to a larger enterprise.

Juno has been able to support Cello by bringing legal to the table to align legal expertise with business growth, ensure compliance, and reduce risk.

"We were dealing with bigger and bigger customers, and, on the other side, there would be a team of lawyers. I needed someone on our team, who knew our business inside and out." - Mark Jurgeleit, CEO, Cello.

READ OUR CELLO CASE STUDY HERE

ILANZ24: Te Hunga Panoni/The Changemakers

Whakamihi! Congratulations to all those recognised in the ILANZ 2024 Awards and to ILANZ for hosting consistently great conferences. What an uplifting event to learn, connect and be inspired.

Donna Cross, Juno Lawyer, shares highlights of the ILANZ 2024 Conference and its engaging sessions.

"The insights from the GenAI sessions were valuable, hearing how others are approaching GenAI, whether advising their organisations or incorporating it into their own toolkit."

READ KEY TAKEAWAYS HERE

Juno Learning: Resilience Key Takeaways

We were delighted to be joined by so many from the in-house legal community and beyond when we hosted Dr. Alia Bojilova, who offered practical insights on how to grow and maintain resilience.

Juno Lawyer Jacqui Anderson shares her key takeaways and a link to our Video Resources.

"Resilience is like gardening. You cannot just pick up the seeds, plant them in a garden, and that very day expect there to be a fruit." - Dr. Alia Bojilova

READ WEBINAR SUMMARY HERE

Office hacks: Quick reactions in MS Teams

If a MS Teams message already has an emoji/reaction, you can quickly add yours to the collection faster than scrolling back to the top and selecting the right one. Here's how:

Find the reaction: Look for an existing reaction at the end of the message.

Hover and click: Hover over the reaction emoji - which will show who has reacted - and click on it to add the same reaction.

This clever little hack lets you react efficiently and also lets the author know you saw and read the message. Win-win!

What we are reading 

🔕Noise, notifications, anxiety. Internally and externally, life has never been more distracting—which is why finding moments of silence has never been more important. Grab a quiet moment to learn about Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz's book, Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise.

🤖Most people are, rightly so, sceptical of AI's tendency to make stuff up. Sam Burrett, in his Three good things blog, explains how understanding hallucinations helps us get the most out of AI tools.

✨Mānawatia a Matariki -There's a wealth of Matariki information and learning resources out there and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has made some excellent videos and podcasts available. One highlight is Dr Rangi Mātāmua sharing his knowledge of Matariki and Māori astronomy.

Forward to a friend

This was delivered to members of our Juno Counsel mailing list, or a kind friend forwarded it to you.

If you're not yet subscribed and would like to receive future editions, subscribe here.

For subscription adjustments, head to Manage Preferences.

Juno is a leading provider of on-demand legal services and flexible in-house lawyers, actively supporting Aotearoa's in-house legal community. Get in touch today to discuss options for experienced in-house legal support on an interim basis, embedded within your team, or on a managed legal services basis. Click here to see our full range of services.