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‘There’s something patriotic about buying legal services from an Australian firm,’ says Gadens head
According to the head of BigLaw firm Gadens, there is “absolutely” a place at the top of the legal services market for independent firms that are “Australian at [their] core”.
Jerome Doraisamy
Speaking recently on The Lawyers Weekly Show, Gadens chief executive and managing partner Mark Pistilli (pictured) discussed how the BigLaw firm, following its recent national integration, is looking to position itself in the market.
In the same episode, Pistilli outlined what he sees as being the lessons for law firm leaders from the hit TV show, Ted Lasso.
Reflecting on the legal services landscape in Australia, he mused that the market “used to be really simple”. Nowadays, he said, there is a bounty of choice for clients, from global behemoths to niche boutiques, even if it is “almost hard to identify what each of the firms do, and where they sit, and to compare them against each other”.
Where Gadens sits, Pistilli said, is as an independent practice in the category of what he describes as “champion Australian legal firms”.
Such firms, he explained, centre on Australian business, people, and policies.
“Where we sit in terms of the height of the group is debatable. Historically, Gadens has been seen as a mid-market or a mid-tier firm, and we play well in that space. We’re looking to continue to do that, but move up the tiering so that people consider us ultimately to be one of Australia’s leading law firms,” he said.
The firm’s vision, which Pistilli said he often refers back to, is to be recognised as a leading Australian law firm “in a market that’s challenged by alternative providers, whether they be multidisciplinary practises or tech providers”.
“It’s our ability to walk down to court and litigate that will distinguish us from those competitors,” he said.
That distinction, he proclaimed, comes from being “Australian at our core”.
“One of the things we saw, when the market globalised, was that Australia became less relevant in the context of those law firms. It’s never going to be a leading market or completely relevant in some of those large global firms,” Pistilli said.
“And so, we think there’s a place for that in the market, and we think that particularly clients, but even people who work for us, want Australia to be the most relevant thing and the most central thing to what they’re doing.”
“We see ourselves in that group, and having travelled around the world recently to talk to referrers of work into the market, they get the sense that there aren’t enough of those independent, champion Australian law firms left.”
The idea of “buying Australian”, he continued, is something that should extend not just to government contractors but also to goods and services providers in the market.
“I think there’s something a bit patriotic about buying legal services from an Australian firm,” Pistilli said.
“I also find it sometimes a little bit strange that the Australian government would brief out foreign law firms on really sensitive issues, including things like defence.”
This, he said, is Gadens’ message to the market.
“It’s critically important to us. In fact, it’s the centre of everything that we do. We support all of the communities in this market. We see ourselves as a relevant part of it and part of the fabric of the whole community,” Pistilli said.
When asked if clients have an appetite for such patriotic fervour, Pistilli agreed.
“There’s absolutely a place in the market for those kinds of firms, and I would hope over time that they will be at the very top of firms providing service into this market,” he said.
“There are a couple who I think are right at the top of the market now, and there’s room for more firms to play there.”
When asked about the utility – from the client’s perspective – of being a firm fully embracing its position in a single national market, Pistilli responded that he sees several benefits.
“First, they are more likely to be relevant to the firm. [In terms of] scale, you can cover all their needs as broadly as they need to go in that market,” he said.
“Then, when you follow them out into the rest of the world, you’re not beholden to particular law firms or your own particular law firm in whatever markets they’re in. So, we have very strong relationships with dozens of law firms across every jurisdiction, and that enables us to match up a client with the right law firm when they go overseas.”
Gadens, Pistilli explained, is “not beholden to any of them”. To him, these are fundamental benefits.
“We can service them when they look out of the jurisdiction, if they want to. But, if they’re purely domestic and their focus is this market, then they’re extremely relevant to us, and hopefully, we’re relevant to them.”
The transcript of this conversation has been slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full episode with Mark Pistilli, click below:
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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