Beyond Billables

A litigation firm with a value pricing model that was created to be a great place to work? They do exist and prosper and this week it was our great pleasure to interview Nigel Evans, Co-Founder of Aptum Legal one of Australia's leading firms that have moved beyond the billables model.

Nigel started Aptum with his fellow co-founders at the start of 2018 and has already had tremendous success growing the practice. The firm are experts in a range of litigation with a particular strength in Insolvency, Bankruptcy, Tax and Corporate disputes. We had a very in depth discussion around value pricing, scoping and different approaches to billing which Aptum Legal has embraced wholeheartedly.

In their own words:

"What we know to be certain is the traditional way of providing legal services is failing. In commercial litigation in particular, it is failing to provide high-quality service that delivers commercial outcomes. The traditional way rewards inefficiency, stifles creativity and innovation, focusses on process over outcomes and alienates even the most sophisticated clients."

Nigel came to law having already had a professional background and we discussed how he managed to juggle a young family with a big career pivot and how his prior experience has helped him while in practice and at the bar.

Nigel has worked for large international firms, as a Barrister and now running his own practice so has a great depth of understanding to how law firms can be run effectively. If you're interested in different fee models, how contentious practices can approach value pricing, and how to grow a firm that lives its values then this is a great episode for you.

https://www.aptumlegal.com.au/

This week we had the chance to sit down and speak with a marketing whiz and wordsmith in Anita Siek. Ex lawyer and founder of Wordfetti, a digital marketing and copy writing business for businesses of all shapes and sizes including law firms. 

One of the biggest issues within the legal industry is the tendency to make communication and their messaging too specialised and legalistic. In this interview we talk about why this is the case, how to improve your copy and messaging so you are hitting the market and engaging with your audience effectively. 

Anita has a magic way with words and explains just why its so important to get your copy and messaging right across the board from your website to social media efforts to how you engage with clients. Anita is always thinking about what the customer experience will be and how to best to engage them and deliver content in a simplified and easily digestible way.

Enjoy the episode and stay tuned for event news next year where we hope to have Anita participating again with her work shops. 

If there was ever a guest that shows us how to make the whole work and life thing work for you and not against you it's Emma Heuston. Lawyer, practice leader, author and speaker Emma is a leading figure in our industry providing crucial information about how to work flexibly and freely in the legal industry.

Emma is a the author of 'The Tracksuit Economy, How to work Effectively and Productively from Home'. This is an amazing book that provides a practical and easy to digest guide on how to work remotely and make it work for you and your employer. Having made the sea-change herself we were very fortunate to sit down with Emma and talk about her approach to work and how she makes it work.

Emma is a successful lawyer and currently Practice Leader at Legal Vision in Sydney. At the same time she enjoys a remote working arrangement that gives her the flexibility and freedom that we would all love. So how does she make it work and how can it work for you?

In this episode we talk with Emma about her personal and career journey in the law. We also talk about the amazing array of new law and working models available to lawyers but that we aren't seeing enough of.

Don't forget to get your copy of The Tracksuit Economy at the link below.

Links:

https://www.thetracksuiteconomy.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/eheuston/ https://legalvision.com.au/meet-our-team/emma-heuston/

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with two ladies who are making a splash in the criminal law space with their new firm Kingston Fox. Having spent over a decade with with the CDPP Erin Hollie and Alexandra Sarmed took the plunge and started their own firm. As two of the most seasoned criminal practitioners in the state this is a great story of finding your feet and setting up your own practice.

We are sure many lawyers will relate to this journey and we dive into how Erin and Alexandra made the jump, how they have designed their firm, how they have managed the challenges and also their own insights into how to maintain a long career in the profession.

We also speak with Alexandra and Erin about the difficulty of working in the criminal law, the emotional toll it takes on clients and lawyers alike and how to manage this dynamic. For anyone wanting an insight into the ups and downs of criminal practice this is an episode not to be missed.

Thanks to Erin and Alexandra for speaking with us also about their novel approach to their business model and marketing efforts which is no easy task in the criminal law space.

Our timing for this week's show couldn't be better with the launch of our >More than Marketing Show. Why? Because this week we speak with Zohar Fisher who is a global authority on legal marketing and business development strategy as the Founder of Robus Consulting, Israel's leading agency. The reason we had Zohar on the show is he works in the most saturated legal market on the planet so the question of how to differentiate your firm is one he has dealt with as a matter of course. With a population of 8.5 million there are approximately 70,000 lawyers in Israel so the question of how to stand out is one we had to speak with Zohar about.

He is one of the leading veteran strategy consultants in the field of legal marketing in the Israeli legal market, and has experience and well know reputation of more than a decade in the legal business development field. Zohar has also stepped into the distributed lawyer market with LawFlex and is a legal industry entrepreneur par excellance.

In this show we cover a broad arrange of topics including:

- The global legal market and what's happening big picture wise; - The past present and future of legal marketing and business development strategies; - The Israeli legal market and why so many lawyers and firms; - The ins and outs of marketing and business development in legal; - The future of distributed lawyer platforms like LawFlex; - What firms can do differently to stand out; and - What holds firms back from trying new things.

Links:

https://robus.co.il/en/homepage/ https://www.lawflex.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoharfisher/

 

The area of family law is one of the most difficult in the profession. Not only is it a hugely human-centric area requiring lots of empathy and tact but it’s also constrained but a court system under huge strain not to … Read more Talya Faigenbaum – Faigenbaum Family Lawyers

The area of family law is one of the most difficult in the profession. Not only is it a hugely human-centric area requiring lots of empathy and tact but it's also constrained but a court system under huge strain not to mention outdated business models when it comes to practice and client engagement.

So this week we had the chance to sit down with a family lawyer who is approaching things differently. Talya Faigenbaum is the Principal at Faigenbaum Family Lawyers based in Melbourne.

Innovation in the family law space is not easy to come by and lawyers in many cases have their hands tied by a process and system that can often offer little flexibility and does not take into account to huge human element in these types of matters.

So in this episode we sat down with Talya to discuss how a different and more transparent approach can deliver better results for clients and how she does this. We also cover:

- Tayla's personal career journey and how she landed in family law; - The entrepreneurial journey and professional challenges she faces in practising in such a human centric area that touches people at their most vulnerable; - Starting your own firm; - Innovation and reform in the family law space; - How family law practitioners can better engage with clients; - Talya's and her firms approach to complex family law matters and what sets them apart; and - How she finds balance in her personal and professional life working in an emotionally challenging practice.

Links:

http://www.faigenbaumlaw.com.au/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/talyafaigenbaum/

This week we were thrilled to have Janelle Kerrisk return to the Beyond Billables Podcast. Janelle is a founder of Helix Legal and LawLancer, two legal services businesses making big waves in the industry. Janelle has a tremendous story of having the confidence to take the leap and has made a great success of everything she has put her mind to.

During the show we had the chance to discuss both businesses and the different journey that they were both on.LawLancer gives law firms access to a scalable and flexible workforce through an online marketplace to alleviate resources and meet client demands, while providing law students with quality paid opportunities to gain real world experience. We chatted about how this idea came about, how democratising access to work would help the entire profession, and Janelle's view on the future of distributed work.

Finally, having now clocked up two years with Helix Legal it was a great chance to go into detail on how Janelle has grown the firm, the challenges during this time and how she has been able to overcome them.

On this episode we discussed:

New legal services platforms The future of work Democratising access to legal work Empowering regional practices Overcoming obstacles as a business owner Scaling your practice Links

LawLancer - http://www.lawlancer.legal/

Helix Legal - http://www.helix.legal/

This week we were thrilled to have Janelle Kerrisk return to the Beyond Billables Podcast. Janelle is a founder of Helix Legal and LawLancer, two legal services businesses making big waves in the industry. Janelle has a tremendous story of having … Read more Janelle Kerrisk – On Innovation, business growth and new legal platforms.

There is perhaps no more maligned practice area than personal injury and compensation law but happens when you start a firm with a clean slate and really try to understand your client? This week we had the chance to speak with … Read more Nick Mann – Founder Polaris Lawyers – A New Approach to Personal Injury Law