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Tony Macvean: ‘I’m really optimistic about the prospects for our firm and our people’
During his time as managing partner, Hall & Wilcox partner Tony Macvean says culture was a big priority – and he remains optimistic about both the future of the firm and the profession moving forward.
Lauren Croft
In June this year, now-partner Tony Macvean stepped down from his role as managing partner after running the firm for 17 years. Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Macvean revealed where the firm is headed moving forward and reflected on the importance of good culture.
Macvean’s former role was more of a business leader position – and as such, the managing partner role in the firm was replaced with a chief executive partner, with Graydon Dowd elected to step into this position in July this year.
In his leadership role at the firm, Macvean focused a lot on the firm’s culture, which he said Hall & Wilcox is “known for”.
“All of the external benchmarking and awards and the like seem to affirm that our culture is really values-driven. We have our hallmarks, which are, I guess, what might be considered values in lots of organisations. But the difference between our hallmarks and the values that most organisations ascribe is that our hallmarks are really known and understood and lived by everybody in the firm,” he said.
“And when I was in the managing partner role, I would talk about our hallmarks all of the time to new starters in performance reviews, in town halls, in weekly posts. I would do all of those things. So, they’re very, very much part of the conversation. In our firm, we think that we have a culture that really does encourage and recognise and reward collaborative behaviour.
“Lots of firms talk about that, but we’ve designed performance measurement and reward systems that strongly encourage collaborative behaviour and putting the client and the firm first. And really, that overwhelmingly drives everything that we do, I think.”
Macvean became the managing partner in 2007 after starting at Hall & Wilcox as a graduate lawyer in the ’90s – and added that as part of the culture, the firm promotes the idea of building one’s whole career at the firm, just as he did.
“We have lots of partners who have progressed through the firm and had success at the firm. That said, there [have] been lots of awesome people [who] have been at the firm and gone on to do other great things in corporates, in other firms, both domestically and overseas, in careers outside of law. So, we equally celebrate our people who have succeeded elsewhere and hopefully leave us as great fans of the firm and as proud alumni of the firm.
“I’ve been so privileged to be at the firm and to have been in a leadership role. I think we have fantastic, supportive clients and great people at the firm who kind of really get it and want to be at the firm and are proud of who we are. And what excites me is I think that from that base, there’s still so much potential for growth and success, and that creates opportunities for our people to themselves grow and thrive and have success,” he said.
“So, I’m optimistic about the profession of law and the business of law. There are challenges always, but I’m overall an optimist. And likewise, I’m really optimistic about the prospects for our firm and our people, given our strength and given the opportunities that we see in the market.”
Looking ahead, Macvean said he is continually optimistic about the role of law firms to service clients, support people and “address some of society’s great problems”.
“I’m optimistic because I think lawyers can support good governance and the rule of law in society generally. So, law is very much a business. But I still feel that there’s a real public purpose in what we do as lawyers, and I strongly believe that. And I think most lawyers believe that. And most law firms make a significant contribution to the rule of law and to community.
“I think that law and law firms can evolve as a world and business evolves. So we see that with the increased focus on regulation, for instance, law firms are much more invested in supporting clients, understand[ing] regulation and manag[ing] regulation with societal changes like ESG, law firms can respond to that and can support clients with that. And I just think that being a lawyer and in a law firm is a great profession and career and provides lots of opportunities. So, there are always challenges, and things will change,” he said.
“But I remain really optimistic about the profession of law and being a lawyer and likewise for us. I think that our sector-led approach can help us thrive. I think we can be closer to clients. I think we can have more of a role in the global business community as a large independent firm in this market. So, I still see lots of opportunities for our firm in the context of broader opportunities in the market.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Tony Macvean, click below:
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
