Having taken on the Bell Gully chairmanship just as the credit crunch was beginning to bite, Roger Partridge has had to lead the firm towards a new business criterion. He shares the story with ALB

Packing fruit and vegetables in a grocery was how the chairman of one of New Zealand's largest corporate law firms started his working life. "I was a card-carrying union member - but union membership was compulsory then," says Roger Partridge. "I'm not sure I would have joined otherwise."

The erstwhile grocery storeman has come a long way since then. After joining Bell Gully in 1982 and working his way up through the management ranks, Partridge now finds himself at the helm of one of New Zealand's top law firms. Or should that be New Zealand's top law firm?

"We strive to be the best of the best," Partridge says. "There is a real passion within Bell Gully to work with the best and to be the best: to set the standard. We are a competitive lot and in a market of this size you cannot rest on your laurels for even a moment."

'The best' can be a subjective concept and particularly so in a market where firms traditionally do not disclose their revenues. One industry review recently estimated that Bell Gully pulled in NZ$105m in revenue last year, in second place behind Russell McVeagh, but Partridge says the Bell Gully figure is inaccurate. "In terms of what differentiates Bell Gully - clients tell us the distinguishing point is that we are easy to work with, practical and have a solution focus," he says.

Transformation

Partridge has been at the helm of Bell Gully for 18 months, in which time the economic environment has undergone a drastic transformation. "There's been a paradigm change for the firm," Partridge says. "It means an end to annual increases in charge-out rates and a focus on expenses that has not in the past been a strategic need for professional services firms. On the other hand, there has been an easing off in the pressures to increase staff numbers and gearing to cope with ever-increasing work levels."

Like many other firms, Bell Gully has compensated for a drop in M&A work by turning its attention to litigation, insolvency, and equity and debt capital markets work. "We are also gearing up in other growth areas in the New Zealand market including, importantly, projects and infrastructure," Partridge says. Like his counterparts at Chapman Tripp and Russell McVeagh, Patridge says that he has also observed the "flight to quality" syndrome.

Under Partridge's leadership, Bell Gully has made a concerted effort to build up particular areas of specialisation. Last year the firm brought in six new partners - "the biggest number we've brought into the firm in a decade" - specialising in areas such as litigation, competition, resource management and energy, resulting in a net gain of four partners or nearly a 10% increase in the partnership.

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