Michael Garry tells Australasian Lawyer what he'll adopt from his predecessor's example
Last month, Michael Garry was announced as Kain Lawyers’ new managing director – a role he officially took on last Thursday as his predecessor John Kain stepped down. In the first part of this interview, Garry tells Australasian Lawyer about the leadership transition process that began two years ago and the three pillars Kain Lawyers was founded on.
It is an honour to be called upon to lead the firm through its next phase. I’m genuinely excited about the opportunities ahead as we strengthen our position as mid-market transaction specialists.
We have assembled a fantastic team, have a compelling vision, and are seeing the benefits of a focused strategy. Australia’s mid-market investment landscape will be dynamic over the coming years, particularly with the increased depth of private capital driving transactions and growing demand for quality legal services.
The leadership transition is something that we wanted to be as seamless as possible for the business and our team. The two-year timeframe has given me time to delve into the broader business and given us the opportunity to properly plan for the next phase of our firm’s growth and strategy.
In the last five years our firm has trebled in size, expanding into the Sydney and Melbourne markets, with headcount now totalling 80 FTE. In this time Kain Lawyers has advised on more than 300 deals worth more than $11bn. Our offices in Sydney and Melbourne are now home to more than 40% of the Kain team, and 60% of the firm’s revenue.
We have increased our depth in key practice areas (including M&A, debt capital, investment funds and real assets) and will continue to focus on our national expansion. With six recently appointed directors across our offices, this is an exciting time for Kain Lawyers.
John has been a great founder and leader for our firm. He is clear in his convictions and is a big proponent of having clear strategies and foundations for a business. John started the firm based on three pillars – creating opportunities for clients, team and community. His leadership has always revolved around the advancement of those pillars and that is something that I will take into the role and won’t change in our business going forward.
As we move to the next generation of leadership at Kain Lawyers, having a clear strategic goal (in our case, a focus on being national transaction specialists) and a discipline to grow and develop our business only in a manner that is consistent with that strategic goal remains critically important.
