The litigation lawyer who is innovating legal services
From litigation lawyer to startup CEO
Lawyers are often expert at identifying and preventing risk. They are not usually known as being innovative. But Joanne Rees is breaking the mould by being at the forefront of innovation in the legal world.
Rees is a lawyer who held senior positions for 32 years. She was a partner and managing partner at leading legal practices, worked as a senior consultant with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and as a senior partner at EY. She was also appointed to serve for two terms as the Convenor and CEO of the Corporation and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) and has been a non-executive director on boards of statutory authorities and a public company.
Embracing NewLaw
Rees’s decision that she didn’t want to be a partner of a law firm for the rest of her career led to her setting up a NewLaw consultancy businesses called Allygroup in 2008. Allygroup has grown to become an Australian leader in project management of large litigation, inhouse legal recruiting and legal management consulting.
Allygroup differs from a conventional legal firm in that it provides NewLaw services. This means that it adopts new and disruptive services technologies to improve the efficiency of legal services required by inhouse legal departments. Since 2008 Allygroup has worked with government and large corporations to help manage their legal spend.
‘Our focus on outcomes over process separates ourselves from the crowd,’ said Rees. ‘We focus on what needs to be done for the client. The majority of the cost savings occur from getting rid of wasted work through upfront scoping of the work. What does the client want, what does success look like, and what needs to be done?’
Providing greater transparency in legal costs
A key problem in the legal industry is the significant cost of obtaining legal services for large legal projects. Often, the work undertaken is not necessarily aligned to client’s expectations and the clients lack confidence that they can appropriately control legal budgets.
In around 2012, Allygroup created a methodology to help clients to cap budgets in large legal projects in collaboration with their law firms. The Allygroup project management methodology focuses on outcome over process so that only necessary work is done by the right level of resourcing when it needs to be done. “Our focus on outcomes over process separates ourselves from the crowd,’ said Rees. ‘We focus on what needs to be done for the client. The majority of the cost savings occur from getting rid of wasted work through upfront scoping - what does the client want, what does success look like, and what needs to be done to achieve that success?’ This methodology has been used by many of Allygroup’s clients, including the Australian Taxation Office and the Attorney-General’s Department.
“We focus on what success looks like for the client”
AllyOne
Following repeated requests for a digital solution to Allygroup’s approach, this methodology has now spun out into the software platform AllyOne which is launching in July 2023.
AllyOne is a software service that owns its own intellectual property. It is designed to guide buyers of legal services through a process that ensures legal spend is aligned to strategy, value and outcomes. It aims to reduce the provision of unnecessary legal services and thereby cost blowouts. It helps transition legal services away from the traditional ‘blank cheque’ model for the industry, and provides those using legal services with greater transparency, accountability and certainty. The platform also incorporates cutting edge data analytics, reporting and benchmarking functions, which general counsel can use in reporting to their executive and board. At its heart is the philosophy of helping rebuild relationships between legal services providers and their clients.
Canberra is full of innovation
Rees grew up in Canberra. She moved away, but once Sydney traffic became ‘intolerable’, she moved back. ‘I was nervous to move back after 20 years,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to step back in my career.’ Yet her experience ended up being the opposite.
‘Canberra is so innovative. It’s grown into a blossoming city. Working alongside the in-house government legal departments is terribly satisfying. I’ve never been busier or more challenged or more alive frankly, than being here.’
“Canberra is so innovative. It’s grown into a blossoming city. Working alongside the in-house government legal departments is terribly satisfying. I’ve never been busier or more challenged or more alive frankly, than being here.”
Rees described her experience being on the Griffin Accelerator course run by the Canberra Innovation Network as ‘amazing’ and ‘serendipitous‘. She heard about the program three days before the cutoff for applications. Out of 60 applicants, 18 were shortlisted, then 7 were chosen for the cohort.
’It just all happened so quickly’, she said. ‘Within three weeks of putting my application in, the program started.’
Rees was impressed by the course. ‘The accelerator program was just incredible. The knowledge in the mentors’ heads and what they imparted over those three months was extraordinary, as was the calibre of people teaching us. I now feel comfortable pitching AllyOne.’
Women in startups
Rees feels that women remain underrepresented in the startup community. According to Deloitte, only 22 per cent of Australian startups are founded by women. ‘There are grants and investor groups interested in female owned businesses,’ she explained. ‘There are opportunities. I feel there’s a commitment to support women leading businesses, and not just in this community.’
During the Griffin Accelerator program, Rees said she didn’t feel any stigmatism towards her. Rather, she felt that with her extensive experience running and growing Allygroup, she could support a lot of the other cohort.
The ten-year plan
Rees images AllyOne being taken global within the next few years. ‘Our marketing strategy is to grow with our current connections, which are big corporates and government departments who want to be able to cap fees in collaboration with their law firms,’ she said.
Once it is proven in Australia, she plans to move onto the same markets in the US to take advantage of the larger legal tech market. ‘Litigation is a hotspot for this tool because that’s where costs can really blow up. America has a hundred times the litigation spend than Australia does. I hope to be watching on with joy that I created something important.
Rees believes there will be a point in the next few years where she will need to find a new CEO with digital start-up experience. ‘The right person to take my dream to the next level.’
Startups weren’t made to be easy
Rees said founding her startup wasn’t easy. ‘There are times where it’s so exciting and you’re on big highs. The creativity is wonderful when you are involved in creating a product and a brand. But there are also times where it’s just hard work. You need resilience and persistence. You must believe and keep going. There are amazing support networks out there. You’re not on your own. Believing in yourself, finding the support and mentoring will help you get through good times as well as more difficult times,’ she said.
“There are times where it’s so exciting and you’re on big highs. The creativity is wonderful when you are involved in creating a product and a brand. But there’s also times where it’s just hard work.”
