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Q&A: Marianne Marchesi – "I'd been frustrated with the more traditional way of doing things in law and I realised if I wanted to do it differently I had to do it myself"
In this Q&A, Legalite founder and principal lawyer Marianne Marchesi comments on why she wants to empower women and other lawyers; explains how her firm has achieved a swag of awards; and outlines the reasons for embracing fixed fees.
You started the firm almost two years ago as a sole practitioner. Can it be challenging, and lonely, going it alone?
“Even though I’m a sole practitioner, I’ve never really felt alone. From the very start, I’ve had support from family, friends and clients, and have built a great community around me which continues to grow. It’s been incredible meeting new people since I started the business, including other law firm owners and especially other women in law, who support and lift each other up.”
How do you decide whether to grow the firm, or maintain the status quo?
“It can be tricky because you don’t want to commit too early or grow too quickly, but at the same time you want to be able to resource clients. I’m fortunate that our growth so far has been really organic, but as we get busier I think it’s important to carefully think about taking the next step without losing that customer service.”
Legalite has been named Australia’s Best Law Firm (Business Clients) for two years running in the NAB Professional Services Awards, and you were also named Sole Practitioner of the Year in the Australian Law Awards 2018. That’s quite a strike rate for a new firm.
“It’s excellent recognition that I’m doing something right. The NAB awards were completely judged by clients, so that’s really promising and a sign that clients like what we are doing. Part of that is constantly evolving to meet their needs and exploring new ways of doing things.”
Most firms aim to focus on client service. What does service mean to you?
“It’s really about actively asking our clients what they want and being receptive to feedback. We seek out feedback at the end of every matter that we complete for our clients and take it constructively. We’ve implemented some changes and some service offerings that we didn’t have before which came out of client feedback. For example, we developed a new service called Legalite Counsel, which is a virtual legal counsel service that has not only resulted in a benefit to clients but also given us the certainty that comes with retainer-based clients. It’s a win-win.”
Do you expect that your firm will continue to specialise in franchising law?
“Not in the long term, no. For my own personal practice that will be the focus, but I am looking at expanding into other areas and bringing on people who have developed a reputation in their own area of expertise. I’d like to support them to grow their practices while giving them the support and infrastructure that comes with the Legalite brand.”
You have said in the past that you want to deliver a different type of law firm. How so?
“I just thought it could be a lot easier than what I had experienced in my career, both internally and from a client-facing perspective. For example, I’ve never been a fan of billable hours and time-recording and I feel it just adds stress and pressure on staff, and certainly doesn’t reward efficiency. So that was one of the things I was keen to get rid of. Being able to have clearer communication with clients and not have the clock ticking has been critical to our success and resulted in better client relationships. We also operate a totally paperless practice, which means that on the back of good technology things happen quicker and it’s more efficient. So really I’d been frustrated with the more traditional way of doing things in law and I realised if I wanted to do it differently I had to do it myself.”
You must have made some careful technology selections in pursuit of such efficiency.
“Yes, and that’s ongoing. I’m constantly trialling different platforms and seeing what works. If something doesn’t work, I’m pretty quick to scrap it and try something else. The only way to figure out what works is to try it properly and implement it rather than just doing demos. It’s really been a matter of trial and error.”
What systems and software do you use?
“We use a whole host of technology for the entire client life cycle. For example, for internal workflow management we use Asana, which is based on the agile way of working and is great for remote staff members. For practice management, we use LEAP, and for electronic document signing we use DocuSign. We also get client introductions online through Google Forms and use The Docyard for collaborating on files with clients.”
How do you make fixed fees work?
“It’s definitely a mental adjustment because as lawyers we are trained to think about our value in terms of time spent. I had to stop equating my value with time. So I really started actively thinking about other elements in coming to a fixed fee, like the client’s budget, the complexity of the work, the experience needed to do the work, and the urgency of the work.
Many firms baulk at such a billing move.
“You can come up with 100 excuses about why not to do something, but I just implemented it from day one and if there’s a problem we resolve it and figure out a way around it. I am now very comfortable with our fixed-fee model and quoting for our services, but I did have a few teething issues at the start because of the mindset shift.”
When arriving at a final price do you rely on a calculation or gut feel?
“It can be a bit of both. I know franchising and commercial law very well and I know what’s common in the marketplace, so sometimes that can come into play as well. If it was another area of law that I didn’t work in, it would be harder for me to quote because I wouldn’t know what’s involved and potentially not understand the market, but I think as a specialist lawyer it should be pretty easy to provide a fixed fee.”
How has it impacted your relationship with clients?
“We definitely enjoy more trusted relationships with clients. It just takes away one hassle that most lawyers and clients have to put up with. We don’t send them a surprise bill at the end of the month or worry about write-offs. Billing is all very upfront and the client either accepts the quote or they don’t, and if they have accepted it that’s the bill they get at the end of the month.”
You also use retainers extensively. How do you ensure you are not always on call?
“With the retainer model we currently only offer it to existing clients and both parties are comfortable with how it works. Even though the retainer offers unlimited legal support by email and phone, at the end of the day no client wants to be calling their lawyer every hour anyway. So there haven’t been any issues in terms of that being taken advantage of.”
Tell us about the culture of your team.
“Our culture is one of empowering our team. I have a lot of trust in them. One staff member works completely remotely; the other one, even though he’s a junior, is free to work from home or a café. It’s about trusting them to do the work. I don’t need to be sitting over their shoulder. They give trust back because that’s the culture at our firm. I want to encourage them to be proactive. If they have an idea or a solution to a problem I encourage them to come forward. Having diversity of thought is a really good thing. Together we bounce off each other and develop a culture of innovation as well.”
In what way are you an innovator?
“I think I have always looked at different and better ways of doing things, even when I worked for other firms. Innovation is such a buzz word now, but I don’t think I have all these genius ideas. A lot of the time it just comes back to communication and responding to our clients’ changing needs. Sometimes innovation can be as simple as that – it’s responding to what clients are asking for. For example, a lot of our clients are socially conscious, and we share those values, so we find ways of reflecting that such as through having a paperless practice and giving back to the community.”
In the absence of a lot of female CEOs and managing partners at major firms, a lot of women seem to be setting up their own small firms. Is that the best way forward?
“Unfortunately, I do think it’s the case at the moment that some women might think they’re not getting the flexibility they want and that going out on their own might be a better option. It’s frustrating. I don’t have kids myself, but I also experienced sexism in the workplace and wasn’t given the same opportunities as some of my male counterparts. It was almost pre-emptive. It’s a big issue and it’s one I’m passionate about. Women, not just leaders but employees as well, really need to speak up and stand their ground if something is not right in their workplace. It can be very hard, but if we develop a support network around us things will change.”
What’s the future looking like for Legalite?
“The key focus now is on expanding the firm into other areas of law outside franchising and having those areas headed up by experts in their field. I’d like to replicate what I’ve done for my own practice in other areas of law and support those lawyers in growing that and supporting them to do what they do best. There may be excellent lawyers who don’t want to start their own firms, so I’d be looking at a model where they can pretty much run their own show and I give them support under the Legalite name.”