And there is the matter of fine-tuning the technology needed to make moving between work locations a seamless experience.
As in many other industries, technology has moved centre-stage for the legal profession during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The courts have been closed, so mediations and hearings have been done online. Court submissions have been provided electronically," she says.
"We've been able to stay connected using video or phone, the technology has become vital over the last couple of years.
"Our industry's world is changing."
For Russell McVeagh, the lived experience since the pandemic first sent New Zealand into lockdown has debunked historical myths about productivity dropping if people worked from home.
It has also changed ideas about presenteeism or ostentatiously spending long hours in the office.
Says Avenell: "All that has gone because we've been able to connect and work. Technology has played a vital role."
Despite this, office culture still remains important to the law firm.
"Juniors are the lifeblood of our business. How we train, develop, mentor and engage them in the firm is critical. For that reason, being in the office and having an office presence will be a vital part of our future."
At the same time, there are issues with younger employees who often live in crowded, shared flats and may not have private workspaces.
It may not always be possible for them to work on sensitive issues in a secure way or make private business phone calls.
"A lot of the juniors want to come into the office, in part because it may not be practical working from their homes, but also because they have the desire to be connected," Avenell says. "We are a people business. The relationships, the connections work well when people are sitting next to each other and in the office talking."
Another aspect to this is that people who may be working from, say, their bedroom, face an extra layer of stress that can be alleviated by heading into the office.
Giving them the opportunity to work in town helps their well-being and productivity.
Businesses tend to focus on workplace health and safety in terms of physical things, but beyond that there is the matter of managing sustainable workloads. Again, juniors are the focus here. Avenell has worked to establish mechanisms and measures to guard against long hours and burnout — these can be even more important in a hybrid workplace where the lines between work and leisure are more blurred.
She says providing support in these areas is another positive workplace change to come from the pandemic.
An important by-product is that the changes have done much to humanise the business and increase the quality and depth of connection between employees. "We have a better appreciation and understanding of other people's circumstances and challenges. There's a willingness to be flexible."
You might think that these changes would be costly. Avenell says it is quite the opposite. "Our people have been highly engaged and there is lower staff turnover. Some of that is because the borders are closed — younger lawyers often head overseas to get experience — but fewer people are leaving because of the culture."
"We look at these changes as an investment and we've done things over the years to support it. We had a 'support local' package around Labour Weekend last year where we gave everyone an extra day's leave and some cash to spend locally to support local businesses."
Despite flexible working meaning fewer employees in the office, there are no plans to reduce the CBD real estate footprint. Avenell says part of that is because the firm has growth plans.
The key is to find smarter ways to use the space and make it a destination, a place where people want to come to work. The CBD may be quiet now, but she is confident the buzz will return. People's natural desire to connect and socialise will bring them back and fill the bars and cafes.
The technology powering Russell McVeagh's switch to hybrid working had changed.
Says Avenell: "The vast majority of our platforms are now in the cloud. The need for servers is rapidly diminishing.
"That's important from a security and risk perspective but also because it allows people to remotely access the real-time systems they need to be using.
"We've moved to become much more mobile so people can seamlessly work from where they need. We've put a focus on security and privacy or access. We've increased our bandwidth. All this has seen our adoption of technology accelerate."
These changes are not unique to law firms, but Avenell says the industry has become far more open to technology change and nimbler as a result.
Last year, New Zealand law firms were engaged with a wave of merger and acquisition activity.
Although New Zealand's economy appears to be coping, experience says a litigation cycle emerges as the economy moves into recession. That does not appear to have kicked in yet. Avenell says she has been having conversations with law firms in Australia and the UK which have noticed the same effect.
"It's a different environment.
"We've moved away from historic low inflation, low-interest rates but we don't know yet if this is temporary or where it will head."
She says being nimble is the best way to prepare for any change. To that end, Russell McVeagh has spent the past couple of years building the resilience of its balance sheet.
There have been investments, but some spending options have been put on hold until there is a clearer picture of where the economy is heading. Attracting and retaining talent is central to running a large law firm. For now, border closures and the difficulties of overseas travel mean that many plans to move have been put on hold.
Avenell is aware that this will change as restrictions ease.
"Equally there is a huge amount of talent that is offshore now and wanting to come home. The best you can do is to back your culture, look after your people well and make sure the business is attractive to those who are ready to come home. We have good links with an extensive alumni network overseas".
This doesn't only apply to lawyers. Avenell says recruitment and retention apply equally to the business services side of the firm: "Our finance team, the HR team, comms and marketing are all sought after professions, demand for expertise in these areas is also running hot right now".
• Russell McVeagh is a sponsor of the Dynamic Business Report
