Doing Law Differently

If you ask a law firm leader to list their firm’s top values, there’s a good chance you’ll hear words like “access to justice”, “innovation”, “excellence” and “integrity”. For Maddocks, though, the guiding value is something far more unique: “stewardship”.

As David Newman, partner and CEO at Maddocks, explains to me in this interview, stewardship is about embracing the concept of leaving the firm in a better place for the next generation of leaders and is just one of the reasons that the team at Maddocks have created a Great Australian Law Firm.

In the last interview for 2021, David and I talk about innovation, staff retention, flexible working and exactly what makes Maddock’s what David calls a Great Australian Law Firm.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

David is a partner and the CEO of Maddocks. He joined Maddocks and its Restructuring & Insolvency team in 2000 and was appointed a partner in 2002. Prior to being appointed as CEO in October 2020, he held numerous leadership positions at Maddocks, including Practice Group Head of the firm’s Corporate & Commercial practice and Practice Team Leader of the Banking & Insolvency practice. Away from work he have four children and enjoys cooking, fishing and diving.

Maddocks is a leading commercial law firm ranking in the top 15 law firms in Australia by partner size. They like to think of themselves as a Great Australian Law Firm, with a business covering all areas of commercial law.

David Newman quotes

Find our more about Maddocks on their website and on LinkedIn.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

Find out more here, or on Instagram or LinkedIn. 

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

The post Great Work + Great Culture = A Great Australian law firm. David Newman, on how Maddocks is combining clients and culture to continue to grow (ep 98) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

Fionn’s idea was simple – to have the flexibility to do the work she loved doing and to do it the way she thought it could be done. But with a background working in with big firms and big companies with traditional values, Fionn found she was not given the opportunity to explore her ideas.

Fionn decided there had to be a better way for lawyers to work and came up with an idea – ‘what if lawyers could sell their time back to law firms?’

Enter: Fionn’s firm, Bowd, a law firm for law firms with a focus on perfect-fit contract lawyers. She believes that when you need a particular skillset for a particular piece of work, just hire that skillset – you don’t always need to hire for the long term.

Listen in to learn more about Bowd and Fionn’s views on the progressive law movement.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Fionn is a former big projects and infrastructure lawyer turned legal services entrepreneur. After a career with big firms and big companies, Fionn decided there had to be a better way for lawyers to work. She wants lawyers from all backgrounds to continue to work in law firms, as a diverse profession serves society best.

Fionn’s firm, Bowd, is a law firm for law firms, with a focus on perfect-fit contract lawyers to smooth the workload in law firms and prevent burnout and attrition. They provide a well-paying and rewarding career option for lawyers who love complex legal work but can’t see themselves inside law firms for the long haul. Bowd also provide other specialist services to law firms, like tender preparation, research and article writing.

Fionn Bowd quotes

Find Fionn online at Bowd website and LinkedIn or join Fight Club for Lawyers on the Clubhouse app.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

The post Hire for now: perfect-fit contract lawyers for short-term needs with Fionn Bowd (ep 97) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

After 20 years’ experience in estate law, Bernadette Duell saw her fair share of inadequately drafted Wills and thought, ‘there must be a better way.’

After moving to Albany in the south of Western Australia, Bernadette saw her opportunity to fix the problems she’d encountered at their root cause. She decided to establish a law firm that specialised solely in Wills and was met with a lot of criticism from her peers who told her that a specialist law firm wouldn’t succeed in a country town. She persevered, launched her firm Great Southern Wills in April 2020 and has proved the critics wrong, with a 200% growth in 18 months.

Launching during the Covid lockdown, Bernadette found Facebook a relevant platform and introduced her ‘mythbuster’ videos, providing short informational videos about the common myths associated with Wills.

From there, word of mouth in the community has played a big part in her success, as well as the ways in which she does law differently, such as free consults and fixed price products.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Bernadette grew up in Sydney, gained her Masters at Sydney University and spent the first 10 years of her career in Sydney at top tier and medium tier law firms. She developed a specialty in tax, structures and estate planning, acting for high-net worth individuals.

Bernadette moved to Albany, Western Australia, far from the city life she was accustomed to.  She launched her firm, Great Southern Wills, during Covid lockdown 2020. With everyone at home, she posted video mythbusters on Facebook, which generated much discussion in the community. From there word of mouth in a small regional town has generated clients with the firm growing 200% in 18 months.

Bernadette Duell quotes

Find Bernadette online at Great Southern Wills, Facebook and Instagram.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

The post Proving the critics wrong – Growing a specialist law firm in a country town with Bernadette Duell, Great Southern Wills (ep 96) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

After many years spent working at a traditional law firm, Jo established 3D HR Legal, a specialist employment law firm that operates in a completely virtual working environment.

Jo quickly realised that the concept of being family friendly and flexible was a point of difference and the firm grew rapidly.  When COVID hit in 2020, Jo realised that her unique experience of managing her own remote team combined with her employment law expertise put her in the perfect position to support other businesses through the transition to remote work. Now it’s time to embrace flexible and remote work arrangements for the long term, Jo has written a book, Homeforce to help employers build a connected, engaged home-based team.

In this episode, Jo and I talk about the benefits of working remotely, but also about boundaries, being able to “switch off” and keep home and work life separate when there is no physical office. Jo also introduces us to her 6-step ‘REMOTE’ framework to build a thriving, distributed team who work from home (at least some of the time).

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Jo Alilovic is the Director and founder of 3D HR Legal, an employment lawyer with 20 years’ experience, author and flexible work advocate who leads by example.

Jo was an early adopter of the remote first and hybrid workforce, managing her own fully distributed team for the last five years. After over a decade working for the largest law firm in Western Australia, Jo’s own business started as a bit of an accident – as so many good things do – when she decided to move down to Donnybrook with her family. At the time working remotely wasn’t the done thing. She quickly saw the opportunity to build a new style of law firm, one which would not only allow for location freedom and flexible work hours, but would also enable her to live out her dream to have both a successful career and a fulfilling family life.

3D HR Legal is a specialist employment who work with professional services businesses to help them avoid legal claims, learn what they don’t know, and create thriving workplace cultures that help business prosper.

Jo Alilovic quotes

Links to Jo and Homeforce

Get your copy of Homeforce on Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes and Noble, Book Depositary  

Connect with Jo at 3D HR Legal or on LinkedIn.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription.

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

The post Building a Homeforce in law and beyond with Jo Alilovic, 3D HR Legal (ep 95) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

Anthony Curtin credits Christmas trees, in part, with being a better lawyer. Intrigued?

Back in 2009 Anthony found himself stung by the GFC and losing his job to redundancy. Needing to draw an income between jobs, he started a Christmas tree delivery business, Melbourne Christmas Trees, which is still successful today.

Anthony found that his business had a much bigger impact than he ever expected. More than just delivering trees, Melbourne Christmas Trees helped children to create happy memories and taught Anthony that business could be a vehicle not just to make money, but to contribute to a greater good.

Fast forward to 2016 and Anthony and his friend Dave Rennex started collaborating about their next venture. They discovered they both enjoyed law and shared the same values. They started Merton Lawyers under a stairwell in a co-workspace and the business rapidly grew to take over the entre venue.

Working with founders, tech companies and the people that like to invest in those companies, they bring the values and creativity from Melbourne Christmas Trees to the legal field, even employing staff from Christmas Trees and creating opportunities for their staff and clients.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Anthony is a lawyer, founder and family guy. He loves working with founders, tech companies and those that invest in them but also spending time with his family and being forever challenged and inspired by his three kids.

In 2016 Anthony started Merton Lawyers with Dave Rennex. They now employ 23 people across four locations in Victoria and Queensland. They advise clients in corporate/commercial law, dispute Resolution and property construction.

Find Anthony online at Merton Lawyers, on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Anthony Curtin quotes

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

The post Oh, Christmas Tree! Embracing creativity in law with Anthony Curtin, Merton Lawyers (ep 94) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

Jacqui Brauman has spent time delving into the psychology of the ‘missing middle’ and understanding the barriers that prevent upwards of 80% of people from getting professional advice.

With the goal of creating a safe space for women to access legal services, Jacqui started Legally Wise Women, which she describes as an information and education hub, a community and a starting point for women who need advice. Reflecting on other businesses that have progressed or even been disrupted by automation and technology, Jacqui aims to keep the humanity in being a lawyer. She says it’s only a matter of time before something big happens in the legal industry and aims to be ahead of the game as much as possible with her law firm, TBA Law.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

As well as being the CEO of Legally Wise Women, Jacqui Brauman created her firm TBA Law in 2012, providing estate planning, family and property legal services to families in Melbourne and Regional Victoria. Jacqui is an accredited specialist in Wills and estates, and an award-winning lawyer. She is an NMAS mediator, a collaboratively trained dispute resolution practitioner and she has written and published four books.

Find out more at TBA Law.

Jacqui Brauman quotes

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

The post Targeting the “missing middle”: Prevention is better than cure with Jacqui Brauman, TBA Law (ep 93) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

After leaving a litigation role in London and feeling a bit disconnected from the world, Philip Evangelou signed up to a Nomad MBA, where he spent three months studying digital marketing in South Africa. Fast forward to 2020, and he then found himself at the end of an employment contract and at the beginning of a COVID lockdown. While many of us would panic, Phil saw this as an opportunity to launch his new firm OpenLegal.

Phil credits his success in part to those newly found digital marketing skills as well as to his experience with founding two other start-up businesses.  Those experiences, he says, have helped him to successfully create a platform to not only build a client base but to also nurture those clients and build lasting relationships.

We talk about:

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Philip is a qualified lawyer with over 14 years’ experience. Philip has worked in both private practice and as an in-house counsel in Sydney and London at various law firms, national insurers and fast growing multinational companies.

Using his legal expertise and experience of starting multiple businesses, Philip aims to help other entrepreneurs start, scale and grow their businesses by solving all their legal problems and helping to mitigate or manage risks that arise in various industries.

Philip is also a philanthropist and Founder of a social enterprise called Kupendo Kids which employs women in Cape Town and supports orphanages in third world countries.

Find out more at Open Legal, LinkedIn and Kupendo Kids.

Philip Evangelou quotes

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

The post OpenLegal: Removing barriers through fixed price subscription services (ep 92) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

The covid pandemic forced the world into a whole new way of thinking and for Alistair and Shona, it marked the creation of their innovative new law firm, Tend Legal.

Having the opportunity to design their firm their own way, Alistair and Shona took inspiration from creative agencies and tech companies and asked, ‘Why can’t we do that with a law firm?’.

Focusing on communication, customer service and lasting client relationships, Tend Legal talk about how dealing with a law firm can be a positive experience and how the work they do leaves them feeling excited about their clients;’ hopes and dreams.

With Alistair leaving a partnership role after 13 years and Shona returning to the workforce after ten years as a stay-at-home mother, things are surely different than they’re used to, but they manage to make it work.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

Alistair is a commercial solicitor with a wide practice encompassing commercial, company, employment and dispute resolution. He was partner of a firm in South London for 13 years, until he left in December 2020 to start Tend Legal with his wife Shona.

Shona is a qualified solicitor, but had taken a break from practising while their children were young. At Tend, Shona is responsible for managing the accounts, marketing and general operations of the business.

Alistair & Shona live in Epsom in Surrey and have 3 children aged 11, 9 and 4.

Alistair Wells quotes

Find Alistair & Shona online: Tend Legal, Alistair LinkedIn, Shona LinkedIn

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

The post What if it doesn’t look like a law firm? Taking inspiration from clients, not lawyers (ep 91) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

Kirsty’s biggest rule is ‘No court’.  
 
After her own bad experiences and seeing her clients struggle mentally and emotionally with the court process, Kirsty has developed her business to focus on out of court solutions.  

Kirsty took a big step in leaving the traditional law firm where she was partner for seven years to concentrate on helping people in her own authentic way. Through mediation, coaching and collaborative practice, Kirsty lives by a kinder, calmer approach to family law to help separating couples reach peaceful negotiations. 

To further prepare clients for the negotiation process, Kirsty has developed an online training course and has written a book, ‘What are we fighting for? A Peaceful Pathway for Separating Couples’ which she readily shares with her clients. 

Join me in my conversation with Kirsty to learn more about how Flourish Family Law are doing law differently.  

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. 

Kirsty describes herself as a Family Lawyer, Mediator, Divorce Coach, Author and founder of Flourish Family Law, a Boutique Law Firm that specialises in helping families separate peacefully and out of court.  

Kirsty left her rural regional practice 4 years ago to start her own boutique law firm. Today, Kirsty’s work is solely focused on helping separated couples reach amicable agreements by providing solutions that focus on kind and peaceful negotiation methods.  

Kirsty’s mission is to help as many families as possible learn about and be educated on peaceful separation solutions so that they can become stronger during and thrive after separation. 

Kirsty Salvestro quotes 

Find Kirsty Salvestro online at Flourish Family Law, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription. 

The post What are we fighting for? Out of court solutions for separating couples with Kirsty Salvestro, Flourish Family Law (ep 90) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.

The Doing Law Differently Podcast is back with the last season of 2021. Today, I’m joined by Stipe Vuleta, Managing Director at Chamberlains Law Firm.

Back in episode 82, James d’Apice gave us a glimpse into life at Chamberlains and suggested I speak with Stipe to learn more about some of the law firm’s innovations. In this episode, I do just that.

Coming from a sense of family and self-actualisation, Stipe reflects on his interpretation of what makes a good lawyer and what makes him excited to be in the industry. He shares his insights on the culture at Chamberlain’s and how their motto ‘We’re with you’ is more than just a motto, it’s about changing people’s lives.   

We talk about building long term client relationships, how to build a positive workplace culture, reducing communication barriers and how the average client life cycle is not one size fits all. 

Stipe also tells us about wills online, Chamberlains’ innovative Wills product which not only streamlines Will making, but creates opportunities for corporate social responsibility.   

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. 

Like most – or probably all – of us, Stipe is many things to many people. He describes himself as Managing Director. Restructuring Lawyer. Coffee Addict. Music Lover.  

Chamberlains is a dynamic full-service law firm, assisting clients across the nation. The firm has a long and proud history, spanning over half a century of well documented growth through excellence. Chamberlains values constant innovation and the adaptation of modern legal practices and continue to invest heavily in technology and systems to provide better client outcomes and a more enjoyable experience for their team. 

Connect with Stipe at Chamberlains, on Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

If you’re serious about reshaping your firm, The Productise and Profit Program provides all the guidance and tools you need to improve your law firm.    

Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.  

Sign up now at www.lucydickens.com.au/program    

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company. The Prepared Company helps wills and estate lawyers by providing a secure white-label platform to manage and distribute their client’s digital records after they pass away. Passwords, cryptocurrency, photos, legal documents, and more – you can now provide a safe and secure way to pass your client’s data while also protecting their privacy. Mention the Doing Law Differently Podcast for 20% off your business subscription.  

The post More than just a motto: Building long term client relationships with Stipe Vuleta, Chamberlains Law Firm (ep 89) appeared first on Lucy Dickens.