“The strong investor support for AFL through the capital raising process is testament to the significant opportunity available to it to become the largest national family law firm in Australia,” executive chairman Grant Dearlove said at the time.

“Currently our market is worth $1.1 billion in revenue per annum and, in contrast to personal injury law, there is no dominant or national player even though the markets are of similar size.”

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly one year on, Mr Dearlove said it has been “an incredibly exciting time” for AFL.

VIEW ALL

“We have taken what is a very traditional area of the law and disrupted it, by using modern applications with the latest technology and digital marketing strategy to create a nimble and mobile business model,” he outlined.

“We were confident going into this that if we could raise the capital, we could execute the strategy, and we have done that, growing our revenue and profit by 48 per cent over these last 12 months.”

Looking ahead, family law firms are going to be fundamentally important, given that the nation is now in a recession, albeit against the backdrop of a looming post-pandemic landscape.

“While COVID stopped many service-based businesses in their tracks, it hasn’t stopped the need for family law assistance. The pandemic has actually grown the need for legal help, with personal relationships really bearing the brunt of the economic stress and pressures of social isolation,” Mr Dearlove explained.

“It’s under these tough post-pandemic conditions that we know quality family law services are vital and that is giving the business the confidence to push ahead with expansion plans, which in the last 12 months have included office openings in Victoria, Brisbane, Canberra and a couple of weeks ago two new locations on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.”

After the GFC, there was a spike in the divorce rate in the years following the worldwide economic meltdown, Mr Dearlove recounted.

“There was a lot of financial stress placed on relationships at the time and in the coronavirus crisis you also have to add in the pressure of social isolation and social distancing, so we again expect increased rates of divorce and separation,” he said.

“While we have to acknowledge it’s a difficult time for many people it’s also an important time for family law firms to step up and deliver meaningful, quality services that put the client at the heart of the business. Our challenge as a modern firm is finding the right progressive talent that [is] keen to do that.

“Law as a business is competitive, so you need to think differently. Nothing we do at AFL is traditional, in our culture, how we work or even our approach to the law. We are confident as our model evolves; we won’t experience too many barriers for us moving forward.”

What it comes down to, Mr Dearlove surmised, is “a combination of innovation and fundamentals”.

“You have to make sure you work hard for your clients – harder and smarter than you ever have – you need to be in constant communication and focus on the client relationship not as simply transactional but transformational,” he posited.

“You need to build those relationships to make clients the ambassadors in your brand. Now more than ever firms need to deliver meaningful outcomes in the most complex and challenging times. Our firm has not lost sight of this and harnesses many modern applications to deliver service. It’s about working together to create the best solution, which means being both strategic and supportive.”

Such considerations are also dependent on the idiosyncrasies of particular regions in Australia, he added.

“In some areas the population tends to be more transient, many migrate to the regions for work or lifestyle, which is especially true in our new locations of the Sunshine Coast with thousands chasing the warmth and lifestyle from down south. A regional sea change isn’t always a recipe for sustainable relationships however and it can mean when families split up that there are additional issues around parenting orders, child custody and relocation, that need to be taken into consideration,” he advised.

“We are seeing more instances where one parent wants to return to their original home state and sometimes, they are taking the children without notifying the other parent. Regional family lawyers need to understand the demographic shifts in their client base.”

This all said, AFL is looking to continue its growth into all major capitals and regional areas, Mr Dearlove concluded.

“Raising capital in the float has given us the financial support to expand and to start recruiting some of the best local family lawyers in the country to join our team, so we are well prepared for business life [post-COVID-19],” he said.

“We might be an [ASX-listed] entity, and like others have corporate obligations to stakeholders, but we don’t let this overtake the service and execution of what we do as lawyers. We use the strength of our listing to provide better service, create a strong culture for our lawyers to excel and to grasp every new way of running and growing our business for our clients’ benefit.”