Partner Louise Gehrig believes it’s Piper Alderman’s business model that allows it to flex to client needs, while remaining accessible and responsive. The firm has been named a finalist across three categories in the 2021 Client Choice Awards, sponsored by the College’s Master of Legal Business. Insights spoke to Louise about what sets the firm apart, what advice she might have for lawyers looking to progress in a competitive market, and what continues to inspire her about being a lawyer.

Making the client relationship central

“Piper Alderman’s business model enables us to service clients at a variety of points in their growth trajectory,” said Louise. “Our partners and lawyers have a deep commitment to building personal relationships with our clients throughout their journey with the firm.  Our high degree of partner accessibility, responsiveness to our clients and commerciality has likely contributed to the firm’s recognition as a finalist in 3 categories this year.”

Unlike many mid-sized firms, Piper Alderman has a high ratio of partners to other legal staff.

“Our partners are therefore directly involved throughout the conduct of each matter,” explained Louise.

“Whilst it is nice to be recognised for the quality of your work by your peers or other industry bodies, awards selected by clients trump all of those external to the client relationship,” observed Louise. “It is, after all, the client relationship which is central to and at the very core of what we do as a firm and as lawyers.  The client is the consumer of our services and therefore the ultimate judge. I consider that firms who fare well in client rated awards are clearly demonstrating that valuing client relationships are at the heart of their business model.”

Striking a balance between practice area knowledge and business skills

For lawyers looking to progress to partner but unsure of where to focus, Louise says it’s all about balance.

“Maintaining strong practice area knowledge is a great thing, but in and of itself, it does not necessarily translate into great success in this business,” observed Louise. “There are plenty of examples of good lawyers from a knowledge and operational perspective who don’t make partner.  There are similarly examples of lawyers who do achieve partnership, with relatively average technical skills, because they are marketing geniuses.  Overall, I would have to say my sense of it is that the profession and more particularly, clients, are becoming more savvy and expecting good technical skills.  The trend seems to be more towards partners needing to be very much on the tools and to staying close to clients, so the marketing-only type partner is finding the going harder today than in the past.”

Good partners reflect the best of both worlds.

“I think the most successful partners generally have a balance of reasonably strong technical skills and marketing skills – they tend to have particularly strong networks and networks that translate into quality work,” explained Louise. “Accordingly, my advice to aspiring partners is to seek to maintain good technical skills, but ensure they embrace all marketing opportunities and particularly any avenues to extend their network.  Seek the mentoring of those with strong business development skills; for many of us, marketing skills don’t come naturally and are not a focus in law school.”

Love of a good debate made for a lifelong love of law

The love of a good debate is what attracted Louise to the law.

“The consistent intellectual challenges and the tactical and strategic considerations involved in my work as a general litigator are what I enjoy most,” said Louise. “I also enjoy the ability to work collaboratively in a team, alongside some fantastic legal minds within my firm and externally, whether they be counsel or experts.  It’s important to be passionate about what you do and enjoy the challenges which are constantly presented to you.”

Like any lawyer, she does at times wish the work could be easier, but it’s a wish that passes swiftly.

“I would likely lose interest if it was constantly easy!” said Louise.

“I think the nature of being a commercial litigator means you stay true to the debating inspiration because you are constantly required to assess both sides and some times a multiplicity of scenarios or strategies in order to settle on what best suits your clients’ objectives,” Louise observed. “I have stayed true to finding things to challenge me throughout my career, in part by electing to take the path of a generalist with a few core areas of practice.  Being a generalist who has never really engaged in highly commoditised, volume driven work, means you are naturally constantly challenged.  The jobs that come through the door can be anything and everything.  You don’t always know the answer immediately, but the application of general principles that were indoctrinated into us at law school, sees you through the challenges and means critically that you know how to find the knowledge you are missing.”

Interested in developing your commercial acumen to improve client relationships and provide practical advice your clients appreciate? Master the business of law with our Master of Legal Business, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate. Start with a single subject, or enrol in electives as part of our LLM (Applied Law).