His early career was as a solicitor in Melbourne before moving to Canberra in 1965 to join the Federal Department of Trade and Industry.
He returned to legal practice in 1970 with a leading Canberra law firm, Macphillamy Cummins & Gibson, where he became a Partner.
After leaving Parliament he returned to the practice of law in Canberra as a Partner in National firm Dawson Waldron, now owned by Ashurst LLC.
In 1989, Haslem unsuccessfully sought election to the inaugural ACT Legislative Assembly, running as an independent candidate.
He also with his wife (Caryl Haslem) interested himself in investing in award-winning food, wine and cooking businesses.