An England and Wales firm has outlined its ambitions to become the biggest legal consultancy business in Australia within two years after agreeing a new partnership.
Taylor Rose MW, which is a hybrid business mixing employees with consultants, will work alongside Australian firm GTC Legal to tap into the fragmented market down under.
Taylor Rose will enhance GTC’s existing business by providing consultants with remote access to a centralised service platform, digital marketing expertise and IT support. At the same time, GTC will offer its local market knowledge and client acquisition opportunities.
James Stevens, founder and chief executive of GTC Legal Group Holdings, the parent company of GTC Legal, said the highly fragmented nature of the legal services sector in Australia will help to accelerate adoption. Australia has 55,000 lawyers and 18,000 law firms - an average of only three lawyers per firm.
Antony Jaggard, director of consultant services at Taylor Rose MW said consultancy has become an ‘attractive and viable alternative’ for experienced lawyers that offers increased earnings and a better work/life balance from working from home.
He added: ‘Australia has always been a market we’ve been very interested in and this partnership provides us with the perfect opportunity to expand the legal consultancy offering.
‘The country has lagged behind in terms of development, and GTC is one of the very few Australian firms that already has an established presence in this area that we can work with to grow the consultancy offering at speed and scale.’
Taylor Rose said the lack of requirement for law firms to pay professional indemnity insurance run-off in Australia will help accelerate the model’s growth as lawyers can transition their business with smaller costs.
Much as in the UK, many firms in Australia have embraced a ‘hybrid’ model where lawyers work remotely for a day or two a week, but Taylor Rose said those practices are still unable to offer the same change in work habits as a consultancy model. Taylor Rose consultants who prefer to be office-based will have access to work spaces in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
GTC began as a legal referral service in 2009 and acquired the personal services firm Armstrong Legal in 2019. The group now offers a full range of services, including criminal, family, commercial litigation, immigration, and contested estates, with 120 staff and 70 consultants across the country.
Taylor Rose is now a top 60 firm with 600 employees and around 500 fee-earning consultants.
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