Q&A: Chris Ward – "If you give clients really good service. they'll pay a proper fee"

In our latest Q&A, Cooper Grace Ward co-founder and managing partner Chris Ward reflects on 35 years of challenges and triumphs at the Brisbane firm and how creating a high-performing but collegiate practice is possible.

Your firm has been on a steady growth path and has won a string of legal and best-employer awards in recent years. Are there any particular management strategies or philosophies that have contributed to that success?
“When I took over in 2005 as managing partner, I had the view that a strong management team was important. It’s not that we didn’t have a management team before then, but I had a stronger emphasis on it. If not a shock for some of my partners, it was certainly a slightly different approach in that we had a view that management was there to manage and lawyers were there largely to be lawyers. I was also very determined to have strong communication with all the team members, including my partners, and to ensure that team members were aligned – that we were all hopefully going roughly in the same direction. So there were a number of philosophies in my mind at that time. But first and foremost was making sure we were as a business going to be run very well. I was determined to ensure that we wouldn’t die wondering – that I would communicate very openly to all the team and to the partners in a way that was positive, but which also would keep them very much informed. I had a very strong belief that, within reason, the more you can tell people what’s happening, the better.”

How has that culture of communication changed over the years given the impact of new technologies?
“To begin with, a lot of it was written in what I called a board report. What you learn, though, is that bit by bit people stop reading the written word, so in addition to the written word we now have a monthly team meeting in our team café where I can speak to every team member about what’s going on in the firm. In addition, I have on our (intranet) a thing called Chris’s Corner so we can talk to team members about what’s going on because some are working part-time and can’t be in the office. So we’re trying to make sure that everyone gets the same message. I also try to be as visible as I can within the firm. Communication can’t be just one thing – some like to read the written word, others want to hear your voice, and others want to see you wandering around. You want to try to make yourself available as much as you can.”

How would you describe the culture at Cooper Grace Ward compared with other firms?
“The hardest part for me is that I’m a founding partner and I’ve been here 35 years, so it’s difficult to say what it would be like in another firm. But I hear enough stories to understand that cultures in various firms are very different. We have tried to work on what we call the 10-10 proposition – that is, you can have a high-performing team and a good culture. There was a thought at one stage that you were either a sweatshop or that you were a holiday camp. We always make sure that people understand that, although we have a very welcoming and respectful and friendly culture, it’s underpinning a really high-performing culture. We really want to engage and perform incredibly well. Team members have to be part of that.”

So it’s about having great performance and a great culture.
“We try to have team members aligned. At a recent Harvard leadership course I attended they put it in context – they talk about having contract team members and covenant team members. The contract team members are those people who turn up, they think ‘it’s not a bad place to work and they look after me’, they get a beer on Friday nights, they go home and that’s that. That’s not to be criticised, but a covenant team member says ‘I’m here, I’m going to go the extra yard and we’re going to get this job done and get the right result’. How do you get a covenant team member? One, they must have faith in senior management. Two, they must believe that someone genuinely cares about them. And three, they must feel that they’re growing and learning. If those three components are there, generally speaking, you’ve got someone on board and engaged who is really going to go the extra yard for you and with the client.”

Your leadership style has been described as friendly and approachable. Is it difficult to maintain such an approach in the cut and thrust of a law firm?
“There are times when you’ve got to make hard calls, irrespective of whether it’s your own team members or third parties. That’s never easy. So you can be as friendly and approachable as you like, but people will then judge you on some of those decisions. My view is that it doesn’t cost you anything to be nice. I’ve had feedback over the years, particularly from younger team members, that if you take the time to say hello, then it’s pretty important to them … People want you to know who they are, that you care about them and that you are willing to say hello. What goes with that is that if you’re transparent and open, people start to trust you. Therefore, even if you’ve got to make a hard call, if you explain it to people, they’ll say ‘fair enough’.”

On the respected Aon Hewitt Best Employer list for 2013, Cooper Grace Ward was the only law firm to make it. That must be cause for pride with the firm.
“That goes back to engagement, culture and our values. We have core values which we’ve worked very hard on since 2006, and within reason we call each other on those if people get out of line. We’ve tried to have a workplace and atmosphere that allows proper debate, proper feedback. We welcome constructive criticism – it gets back to the fact that if you have team members who want to be part of your team, you’re not all the way there, but you are certainly a long way towards building a successful business model.”

All law firms are talking about the importance of delivering good client service. How does Cooper Grace Ward ensure it delivers on its promises?
“Part of it is that you have to understand your client and their business, but we go a bit further. We do what we call ASQ – Assessment of Service Quality – with our clients. We do about 20-odd of those a year where we go out and see our clients and talk to them about their plans and where we can improve. Great client service should be a given, but then it’s a matter of how you back that up with knowledge of their business and having a team that’s engaged to really work with those clients. Clients want you to be their trusted business partner. You’ve got to walk that fine line between not driving them mad but also making sure that you’re in their space a fair bit.”

How have client relationships changed in the past decade?
“I’m thinking back to the height of the boom around 2005-07 when law firms could just about do what they liked; there was so much work. Within reason they could increase their fee rates without much opposition. Then the GFC hit, and in addition you are finding that there are very astute, bright corporate counsel acting in large organisations that have been part of some of the most successful law firms in Australia. So the balance has tipped towards the client; they have people advising them internally who know what they are doing. They know it’s a tough legal market and they know they can bargain. So the client has the whip hand. That’s not to be complained about – you work with them and understand what makes them tick and what they want. If you give them really good service, they’ll pay a proper fee.”

You had the privilege of meeting legendary Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz founding partner Marty Lipton in New York earlier this year. What did you learn?
“I met with Marty for an hour. He was very open and free with his time. Although 83 years of age, he is still fully engaged with Wachtell Lipton. At the course that I attended at Harvard, we had studied Wachtell Lipton as a case study and, in particular, their strategy since 1965. I did ask Marty how he saw their strategy. He smiled and said: ‘We are a family and we don’t let each other down.’ Clearly, they work incredibly hard, but they support each other in that process. Marty also shared his thoughts around their competitors and the globalisation of the legal marketplace. It was, for me, a wonderful experience to meet with Marty.”

Your fellow founder David Grace recently announced he is retiring, and another founder Peter Cooper has retired. It must be a time of reflection for you and the firm.
“David retired from the partnership on June 30. David is now a consultant to the firm working three days a week. We have seen David’s retirement and before that, Peter Cooper’s retirement, as a celebration. Peter Cooper still comes in and we have an office for him. I still see the relationship between the founding partners as being as strong as ever. And what David’s decision did in my mind is remind us that after 35 years the fact that we are still going is very positive. We have survived through the years – the October ’87 share market crash, the early ’90s were very scary when we had the recession we had to have and, of course, the GFC. So we’ve survived those three events and grown greater in strength. And Peter, David and I have remained close; we’ve always had a really good relationship and after 35 years it’s as strong as it ever was and I gather from other firms that not a lot can say that. We’ve always been very respectful of each other and we’ve had very few disagreements. Our only strategy in 1980 was to work bloody hard and, in those days, that’s all you had to do. Working hard was a defining strategy, whereas now it’s just taken for granted.”

Late last year, you were appointed to another four-year term as managing partner. What would you like to achieve in this term?
“Just to continue to refine what we are doing. I feel at the moment that we’re in a really good space. I still sweat the numbers, the production, the clients, the bank balance and the team members. I want to continue to feel that I’ve still got my finger on the pulse. I’m 60 years of age, I was born and raised in Brisbane and I have some very strong relationships around town – and I want to continue to build upon those. I want to ensure there will be a proper legacy for the firm. I want to have something that endures – something that goes well beyond Cooper, Grace and Ward.”

Can you consider Cooper Grace Ward’s strong position in the market today and think back to 1980 when you and David Grace and Peter Cooper took the risk of leaving another firm to go into business together?
“I’m yet to decide whether you make your own luck or whether luck comes your way. Peter, David and I were partners at another firm … but when we decided to go in 1980 I didn’t foresee what might occur. We’ve got a long way to go and I take every day as a new day. If one sees you as successful, I’ll accept that, so therefore I feel very fortunate to be in that position. Having said that, since 1980 we have weathered:
• the crash of ’87;
• the recession of the ’90s;
• the GFC.

But at all times, I have felt very fortunate. It’s been a great ride and I hope I can finish it off in a way that ensures the firm continues to grow. Assuming that I’m a good leader, good leaders make sure that there’s a proper transition – that there are people coming through who will carry on the good work.”