Better Lawyers Group Welcomes Donaldson Law as Foundation Brand
A bold vision for a new standard of excellence in both client and staff experience in the law has been realised with the creation of Better Lawyers Group, a new home and support network for innovative firms and individuals who want to push past outdated beliefs stifling the profession.
Managing Director Peta Gray said she has always been driven by the belief things can be done better and wanted to make a positive impact on the legal industry beyond her own multi-award winning firm, Enterprise Legal.
Tired of hearing âitâs always been that wayâ or âthatâs just how itâs doneâ, in 2017 at 27 years of age she co-founded Enterprise Legal and worked to redefine whatâs possible in a regional law firm, from embracing a predominantly fixed fee structure to offering genuine wellness and flexibility options for staff.
âItâs one thing to say it can be done differently; no one believed us until we did it. Firms in our region did not think that fixed-fee billing could work until we did it. We absolutely smashed it out of the ballpark in those first 18 months,â Ms Gray said.
âI felt like we had conquered a lot, weâre an option that people can use if they want a different approach to legal services or if they want to work in a different law firm to other traditional firms, but it felt like a small impact. Weâre one firm, so I think for the last few years itâs been apparent to me that to spread that impact, we need to go bigger.’
After waiting for the right firm to acquire as a foundation brand under her Better Lawyers Group umbrella, Ms Gray said she was excited to announce alongside her close colleague Adair Donaldson, that his firm Donaldson Law had joined the Better Lawyers fold.
She said both businesses had proven itâs possible to adopt modern and innovative practices, policies and incentives usually associated with top-tier capital city firms, in a smaller and regional setting.
âI canât think of a better firm than Donaldson Law to be the first firm to join with Enterprise Legal to be the founding brands, theyâre so aligned,â Ms Gray said.
âThe Better Lawyers Group is a plan Iâve had for years and I was waiting for the right firm to become available – it has the ability to be very impactful within the legal sector. Donaldson Law, whoâs already had all those impacts under Adair, is perfect. That is exactly aligned in terms of what we want.â
Adair Donaldson said from his point of view, the sale was a âperfect fitâ.
Donaldson Law specialises in abuse claims and landholder compensation cases, with a focus on a trauma-informed approach to achieving out of court solutions whenever possible.
âWe always had a vision when we created Donaldson Law that we wanted to be doing law differently,â Mr Donaldson said.
âWe wanted to be innovative, we didnât want to be like any other law firm.â
He said while many personal injury firms talked about being âtrauma informedâ, Donaldson Law walked the walk with an approach which prioritised the needs of particularly vulnerable clients.
“Based in regional Queensland, we developed a national practice here where we have been at the forefront of issues involving abuse in the Australian Defence Force, advocating for landholders impacted by PFAS contamination and land resumptions,â he said.
Practice Manager and wife Samantha Donaldson said while Donaldson Law had been approached by other firms, selling to Better Lawyers Group under Peta Grayâs leadership offered the best outcome for their staff and clients.
âWe are entrusting this firm that weâve poured our heart and soul into, to Peta,â Samantha said.
âWe wanted it to have longevity and be successful, and with Peta all those things align. Finding any lawyer who is both an extremely knowledgeable and excellent lawyer but also a good manager of a business and a law firm – to get those two skills in one person is really rare.â
With Mr Donaldson looking to take on new projects including mediation work and education and advocacy around gendered violence, he said he was ready for someone else to take Donaldson Law to âthe next levelâ.
âMore than anything we wanted not only a safe place for our clients, a place where our clients were going to be looked after because theyâre the most vulnerable people, we wanted somewhere that understood trauma, someone who got what we were trying to achieve,â Mr Donaldson said.
âWe wanted to make sure that our staff were going to a place where they would be respected. We wanted that legacy to live on and that meant finding someone with the same values. Iâm a huge fan of Peta. Words Iâd use to describe her are courageous, innovative, assertive, book smart, street smart, go-getter, fearless.â
Mr Donaldson said he still reflects on the first time the pair met for coffee in Toowoomba, where they are both proudly based.
âFor someone 27 years of age, a young mum with a son whoâd just turned one, to take that risk and go out by herself – that was wow,â he said.
âIâve watched her, and weâve watched each other as close colleagues, because itâs tough being in business. Very few people these days want to take the risk of going and creating their own business, so for someone to go and do that they deserve tremendous respect.â
Those risks are another challenge Peta Gray wants to help rural and regional solicitors overcome, by tapping into the Better Lawyers Groupâs collective resources and knowledge base.
âThe long term vision for Better Lawyers Group is that we can act as a network,â she said.
âYou donât even necessarily have to be a fully-owned brand under it, my long term goal is to offer a network of support to regional and rural firms so if you do want to go back to your home town and start a firm, but you donât know the business side of how to do that, theyâre the kinds of things you can tap into as part of the Better Lawyers Group.â
Ms Gray said local solicitors could refer clients to Better Lawyers Group for larger matters, without the risk of losing those clients and all their business to capital city firms.
âThatâs getting better outcomes for everyone, because we canât have the only people doing law being people in metro areas, but itâs trending towards that,â she said.
âThe message is absolutely, you can do it differently. Donât be disillusioned, look around. It is easier now than when I did it 10 years ago and when Adair did it 20 years ago but the thing you canât sub out is hard work.â
For further comment and interview opportunities contact:
PETA GRAY:Â 0427 034 600
ADAIR DONALDSON:Â 0427 625 977
Better Lawyers Group
www.betterlawyersgroup.com.au
admin@betterlawyersgroup.com.au
PO Box 817, Toowoomba QLD 4350
Level 1, 11 Annand Street, Toowoomba QLD 4350
