Australia-based law firm has announced the launch of a board and executive remuneration consulting service it says will fill a gap in its practice.
MinterEllison has announced the launch of a new, non-legal service offering: Board and Executive Remuneration consulting services.
Speaking with Australasian Lawyer, innovation and networks leader Andrew Cunningham said the development is about listening to clients and plugging gaps, rather than following the accounting firm model.
“What we are doing is looking across our practice and identifying gaps where at the moment clients need to seek assistance from us as principally a law firm and from others, and find opportunities for us to make life a bit easier for clients by providing them with an end-to-end service,” he said.
“It’s quite a strategic approach, it’s not looking for all the non-legal consulting opportunities we don’t do and doing them.”
The firm already offers some such services across HR&IR practices, M&A corporate and tax practice groups, “but not all of it”, Cunningham said.
“There’s a small piece missing there which is the advice to the client about how they structure their remuneration arrangements in order to align with their aspiration.
“It’s something that fits the capabilities and brand of a top tier firm and three it’s something that we’re better doing and there’s a real value proposition for the client.”
While he remained tight-lipped about branching into further such consulting areas, he did say there are further offerings in the pipeline.
“There are things in the works, I’m not going to spill the beans,” he said.
Heading up the new team is former Willis Towers Watson Australia Board and Executive Remuneration head Jonathan Finlay, who will be joined by a team of specialists.
“We have a strong track record of assisting clients achieve an effective working balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of management behaviour and reaching pay arrangements that stand up to close scrutiny from stakeholders such as shareholders and regulators,” Finlay said.
“We are simply adding our capability to MinterEllison's long history of helping clients navigate the global regulatory and business environment – advising remuneration committees and CEOs as well as CFOs, human resource directors and general counsel on executive reward as an enabler to achieve business, talent, and performance objectives.”
Speaking with Australasian Lawyer, innovation and networks leader Andrew Cunningham said the development is about listening to clients and plugging gaps, rather than following the accounting firm model.
“What we are doing is looking across our practice and identifying gaps where at the moment clients need to seek assistance from us as principally a law firm and from others, and find opportunities for us to make life a bit easier for clients by providing them with an end-to-end service,” he said.
“It’s quite a strategic approach, it’s not looking for all the non-legal consulting opportunities we don’t do and doing them.”
The firm already offers some such services across HR&IR practices, M&A corporate and tax practice groups, “but not all of it”, Cunningham said.
“There’s a small piece missing there which is the advice to the client about how they structure their remuneration arrangements in order to align with their aspiration.
“It’s something that fits the capabilities and brand of a top tier firm and three it’s something that we’re better doing and there’s a real value proposition for the client.”
While he remained tight-lipped about branching into further such consulting areas, he did say there are further offerings in the pipeline.
“There are things in the works, I’m not going to spill the beans,” he said.
Heading up the new team is former Willis Towers Watson Australia Board and Executive Remuneration head Jonathan Finlay, who will be joined by a team of specialists.
“We have a strong track record of assisting clients achieve an effective working balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of management behaviour and reaching pay arrangements that stand up to close scrutiny from stakeholders such as shareholders and regulators,” Finlay said.
“We are simply adding our capability to MinterEllison's long history of helping clients navigate the global regulatory and business environment – advising remuneration committees and CEOs as well as CFOs, human resource directors and general counsel on executive reward as an enabler to achieve business, talent, and performance objectives.”
