The only constant in life is change.
Greek philosopher Heraclitus may not have been referring to running a law firm when he proffered this timeless advice, but law firms navigating the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic can take a lot from his guidance, says Client Choice Award-winning firm The Fold Legal.
“The uncertainty of the COVID-19 environment has shown that we need to continue to innovate to support our teams, navigate client relationships and build strong practices in a changing and unpredictable market,” said firm Partner Charmian Holmes.
“Clients expect us to be more nimble, agile, and flexible – both in how we work with them and in our pricing. As an agile firm, we continue to work with clients to provide flexibility so that we can deliver both the right legal and cost outcome.”
This combination of innovation and agility appears to have worked for The Fold Legal. The firm was recently named Best Banking & Finance Firm (less than $30m revenue) as well as Best Insurance Law Firm (less than $30m revenue) in the 2022 Client Choice Awards.
Holmes said her firm was “delighted” to be identified as a winner, and the awards provided affirmation that her firm was doing something right.
“The feedback gathered by Firmchecker [for the awards] shows us that we are definitely on the right track when it comes to client service,” she said.
“The recognition as finalists reflects the commitment of our entire team to putting our clients at the centre of everything we do, and it is hugely motivating to see that our continued focus on client service is having an impact.”
The annual Client Choice Awards recognise the best professional services firms in Australia and New Zealand across four categories of accounting and consulting, built and natural environment consulting, legal, and specialist IP services. Winners are uniquely chosen not through self-nomination or judging panels but are identified by client feedback submitted to beaton and Firmchecker.
In 2022, more than 250 firms entered the awards, and more than 15,000 pieces of individual client feedback were submitted to beaton.
The Fold Legal is a boutique law firm based in Sydney that works in a small handful of practice areas – but markets itself as covering those few areas exceptionally well. Ms Holmes said delivering excellent legal service and being responsive to clients as their needs constantly changed was her firm’s highest priority.
She added that the firm’s agile strategy extended to formulating and adapting its approach based on feedback from each year’s Client Choice Awards.
“The feedback from Firmchecker shows us that what clients particularly value about The Fold is our responsiveness, communication, understanding of their needs, industry knowledge and technical expertise,” she said.
“Similar to previous years, we’ll be using the feedback gathered for the 2022 awards to inform what our particular areas of focus will be for the coming year.
“We believe our clients care that we do well in these awards as it shows that we are listening to them … While it is always nice to be recognised, we are improvement-focused and want to ensure we’re always delivering more value and a better experience for our clients.”
The Fold Legal was named the Best Banking & Finance Firm (<$30m revenue) as well as Best Insurance Law Firm (<$30m revenue) in the 2022 Client Choice Awards. These awards are presented in partnership with LEAP Legal Software.
Firmchecker is the Research Partner for these categories.
The Client Choice Awards rewards firms for excellent client service, technical expertise, innovation and client experience. It is the only multi-profession and fully client-judged awards anywhere in the world. The Principal Partner of the Awards is NAB.
Enter your firm for the 2023 Awards here.
