SHIFT Advisory Lawyer Alexandra Birt named one of Australia & NZ Lawyer magazine’s 2026 Future Legal Leaders

SHIFT Advisory Lawyer Alexandra Birt named one of Australia & NZ Lawyer magazine’s 2026 Future Legal Leaders 

Alexandra Birt has been named a 2026 Australia & NZ Lawyer Future Legal Leader – recognising a career that blends sharp commercial legal work, legal innovation, and a very modern approach to what a legal career can look like.

Alexandra is a SHIFT Advisory lawyer and works on complex projects involving large-scale contractual change and business transformation. Alexandra is on her second secondment with SHIFT, assisting a scale-up business advising on strategic commercial projects and helping to establish their legal function.

Before returning to New Zealand last year, Alexandra spent five years in London as Senior Legal Counsel for Dentsu, one of the “Big Six” global empires of advertising and media. Working for their global function she led legal work on some of the organisation’s highest value client agreements, often negotiating in fast-moving pitch environments with the world’s biggest companies.

She was frequently the youngest person in the room – but regularly the one leading the legal strategy. Alongside deal work, she built and rolled out contract frameworks, supported global legal tech implementation, and trained large teams of lawyers on new systems and ways of working.

Alexandra was living in London during the COVID-19 pandemic, and co-founded Grounded Kiwis, a grassroots group supporting New Zealanders affected by MIQ border restrictions. Alongside her full-time role, she helped advocate for impacted individuals and contributed to legal action challenging aspects of the system – an experience that reflected her strong sense of fairness and willingness to step beyond traditional legal settings.

Her perspective on the profession going forward is equally grounded. She’s excited by the rise of AI, automation, and legal operations – but even more interested in what that frees lawyers up to do.

“I think the next decade of law is going to look very different. The repetitive work will increasingly be automated, which is a good thing. It means lawyers can spend more time on the work that needs judgment, creativity, and commercial thinking.”

And on the shape of legal careers themselves, she’s clear that change is overdue:

“We need to move away from the idea that there’s one way to be a good lawyer. Some of the best lawyers I know work part time or flexibly – they’re just incredibly efficient with their time. If anything, they often deliver better work because they’re focused on impact, not hours.”

Alongside her professional work, Alexandra has contributed to governance and community organisations, including a local charity and  early childhood education board.

Her recognition as a Future Legal Leader reflects not just what she has achieved so far, but the way she approaches the profession itself: curious, practical, people-focused, and unafraid to challenge the status quo, including outdated assumptions about what legal work should look like.

Or, as she puts it more simply:

“I care about doing great legal work—but also about building a career that actually works for me as a human being. Those things shouldn’t be in conflict.”