Law industry woes have placed the business in Australia in a “funk” according to Minters’ Australian head Tony Harrington (pictured) who says it is not a question of narrowing focus in order to grow.
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Mr Harrington said you needed to grow or die, but some firms were dropping potentially lucrative work in favour of building up their M&A and litigation work capabilities.
“The legal profession has got itself into a bit of a funk believing that it can’t grow … and some of the larger firms believe success is about shrinking the firm to greatness; I don’t agree with that.”
Most firms are driven by profit, he said, which is prompting substantial cost-cutting; but this self-centred approach can overlook the changing needs of the client.
The trend of in-house teams absorbing a greater volume of legal work highlights that the industry is not listening to its clients’ needs, he added.
To stress that Minters has shifted its weight to become more client-oriented, the firm recently dropped the world “lawyers” from its branding.
It also commissioned Newgate Research to survey clients, with Minters’ partner and “markets leader” Mark Green taking responsibility for the firm’s industry strategy and client programs.
Before his appointment as Minters’ chief executive last year, Mr Harrington was an adviser to King & Wood Mallesons and a managing director with investment bank Moelis & Company. He was also the senior partner and chief executive of PwC in Australia from 2000 to 2008.
Mr Harrington said his corporate experience has taught him the value of entrepreneurial partners. So, at Minters, he encourages partners to be more business-minded in how they run their practice, interact with clients and develop their teams.
Shifting partner attitudes requires what he describes as “floating the currency of partnership” – in other words, communicating the value and importance of the partner role; it also requires younger lawyers in the partnership.
Minters is therefore intent on admitting partners in their early 30s.
There are too many other exciting opportunities that talented lawyers will be tempted by … you need to operate a business model that supports talented people into the partnership as quickly as possible,” Mr Harrington said.
Mr Harrington told Lawyers Weekly that the firm planned similar growth tactics as its recent recruitment of around a dozen partners from Maddocks tax practice.
This recruitment strategy appears to have had a positive impact on Minters’ bottom line, the firm reporting $418 million in revenue for FY14, up $2 million on the previous year.
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