Government Services | Partner or Special Counsel stepping up

Location: Brisbane
Discipline: partner & special counsel
Job type: Permanent
Salary: $225K to $1M++ Negotiable Based on Client Presence
Contact name: Craig Ashton-Sward

Contact email: craig@lawstaff.com.au
Job ref: GP210521
Published: almost 3 years ago
  • Resourceful National Law Firm with 30% Growth
  • Prominent Government Panel | State and Commonwealth
  • Circa $225K (SC), $300K+ Bonuses (SP), to $1M++ (EP)
THE FIRM 

With the average age of its Partners in their early to mid 40's, it is a firm with a deep level of technical capability while also being a relatively young and highly collaborative partnership. 

Our client has had unrivalled growth over the past 5 years and has a strategic plan of expanding further with the appointment of an additional Partner in their Government Services Practice. The appointment will also accommodate a Special Counsel looking to step up to Salaried Partner level on commencement.

The firm is on 10+ Primary Panels for Local Government and State Government, as well as 19 Commonwealth Government Panels. It is now looking to increase their service levels having an acute understanding of the financial, ethical, legislative and policy frameworks in servicing their clients' needs. 
 
THE ROLE
   
The firm is seeking a talented lawyer ideally of 10 to 20 years experience to join their highly-regarded government services practice group. You will work closely with two Partners in this team, while collaborating with several Partners from other practice groups who service the Government space. 

The preferred candidate will have a skillset in Public & Administrative Law, ideally to include:
  • Statutory Interpretation;
  • RTI, Privacy, GIPA;
  • Merits Review as well as Federal and Supreme Court Judicial Review proceedings;
  • Integrity, Corruption, and Misconduct, including Commissions of Inquiry;
  • Legislative Process and Drafting;
  • Disputes and contentious transactions.

WHAT YOU NEED


The expectations are genuinely for 10-20 years post-admission experience, in several of these service lines. A fair portion of that experience must have been recently obtained within Brisbane in a a mid-tier or a large national practice where your skills have been developed advising government departments or agencies in that stream.

Indicative of your skillset in servicing these demographic clients, you will have existing relationships at various levels within local, state or commonwealth departments. 
 
In addition, you will have well-developed team management skills and a high level of commercial acumen and a strong client focus.


WHAT YOU GET
   
This is a lateral appointment into Partnership, or a Special Counsel appointment with a very fast track to partnership inside 12 months. For entry level Partners they offer generous salaries plus bonuses on modest KPI's. For Equity Partners their earnings are well in excess of industry benchmarks without the need to compromise on prestige or resources.
  
While other firms are cost-shedding non-fee earning staff to maintain their profit pool, this firm maintains an extensive local and national back-office infrastructure that underpins the very success of each Partner. They have had zero redundancies during financial downturns and have one of the lowest attrition rates of any law firm in the State. On that rare occasion when a staff member departs, it is normally to full-time parenthood or to go in-house with a client. 

In employee benefits terms, this is one of the most innovative firms in that regard. They have an exceptionally long list of financial and non-financial benefits that is open to every employee to enjoy. They invest heavily in their people as well as in their culture, therefore it is easy to understand why workplace satisfaction and workplace cohesion is something their competitors view with envy.


OUR EXPERIENCE
 
In challenging times, there has been the need for law firms to recalibrate in order to maintain a competitive advantage and a sustainable profit pool for its partners. Those that have managed this have emerged as magnets to other partners looking to transition their clients to a more innovative and profitable platform.

With 30 years as specialist consultants to the legal profession, Law Staff has an impressive history of facilitating discreet moves for partners (and whole teams) to specialist, mid or top tier practices, all while providing critical intelligence on:
  • Individual profitability of the relevant firms;
  • Partnership structures and equity distribution;
  • Strategic growth plans;
  • Intra/Cross practice compatibility;
  • Historical transitions;
  • Performance expectations; as well as
  • Partnership culture and idiosyncrasies (trust us when we say that no one firm is perfect).
In addition, our Senior Client Advisors have assisted hundreds of partners in writing detailed business plans that identify only relevant information including key practice components as well as transitioning requirements, and less of the white noise. We advise you when the appropriate time is to table this information to ensure your commercial interests are preserved. Most importantly, we will only ever confer with the relevant Managing Partner after you have done your research and at a time when you have expressed in writing that you are ready to take that cautious next step. Absolutely everything stays in the vault until that time. A list of partner references can be made available at your request.

THE NEXT STEPS

At Law Staff we offer a lounge room setting for a relaxed confidential discussion over coffee/tea, allowing you to comfortably provide us with an understanding of your considerations in that next move. In the alternative, we make ourselves available for Zoom or FaceTime Meetings, as well as Teleconferences to suit your circumstances and work commitments. 

For an uncompromisingly confidential discussion, please contact either:
  • Craig Ashton-Sward (Director & Senior Client Advisor) 
  • craig@lawstaff.com.au
  • 0413 743 838 (8:00 am to 8:00 pm 7 days)
or
  • Trudy Reading (Client Advisor)
  • trudy@lawstaff.com.au 
  • 0401 504 203 (8:00 am to 8:00 pm 7 days)
Feel free to maintain your anonymity in the first instance if you choose.
Law Staff | Level 22 HSBC Building | 300 Queen Street | Brisbane