Joel Barolsky's keynote presentation on Why Some Firms Fly at the 2023 ALPMA Summit
Barolsky Advisors
Welcome to Barolsky Advisors.
We are a leading management consulting firm with a deep understanding of the culture and complexities of professional service organisations, in particular law, accounting and business advisory firms.
Our primary area of expertise is in strategy and strategy implementation. This includes addressing strategic issues like market positioning, client/sector focus, culture, governance, organisation design, partner remuneration, succession and capability development.
We work mainly for managing partners, boards, executive committees and practice team leaders. Our work covers advice, analysis, education and workshop/retreat facilitation. Our founder and MD, Joel Barolsky, is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and partner retreats.
Feel free to explore our website. It covers in more detail what we do, who we are, recent articles, keynote topics, testimonials and contact information.
Australian Legal Market: 7 Predictions for 2025
- Joel Barolsky (He/Him)
- Founder and Managing Director of Barolsky Advisors
- Principal of Edge International
- 30+ years as a strategy advisor and management consultant to professional service firms
- Senior Fellow of The University of Melbourne Law School (currently ranked in Top 10 in the world)
- Opinion writer for the Australian Financial Review Legal Affairs section
- Co-author of Thomson Reuters Legal Insights State of the Australian Legal Market Report
- Author of the Relationship Capital blog
- Creator of the Price High or Low smartphone app
- 16 years as head of Beaton Research & Consulting's strategy practice
- Co-Director of Studies of Melbourne Law School's Specialist Certificate in Legal Leadership
- A foundation member of the Australian Legal Technology Association
- Proud Liverpool fan and a long-suffering St Kilda supporter.
Joel has worked with over 100 of Australia and New Zealand's top law, accounting and advisory firms.
70% of his clients are repeat clients or come directly from referrals from existing clients
Tony Macvean, Managing Partner of Hall & Wilcox Lawyers
“Joel is a key advisor to the firm and me. His advice is practical and straightforward. He is aware of current trends but grounded in reality. We have had significant success in recent years – in my mind, there is no doubt that Joel has contributed greatly to this success. We enjoy and appreciate working with him. I have no hesitation in recommending Joel.”
In the media and on the speaker's circuit
Many of the articles listed can be read here- Chairperson of the 18th Managing Partners Forum, 27 and 28 February 2025, JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort
- Quoted in an article in ALM law.com (American Lawyer) on Hogan Lovell's closure of its Sydney office, 13 September 2024
- Article published in the September 2024 edition of the Australasian Law Management Journal - Have the Fundamentals Really Changed Since Maister?
- Presenter at the AMPLA Summit on crafting your firm's collaboration agenda, 11 to 13 September 2024
- Published a chapter in Nick Jarrett-Kerr and Jonathan Middleborough's "Managing Partner Performance" book, Globe Law Online, 2024
- Quoted in a ALM Law.Com (American Lawyer) article on KPMG's exit from the Australian legal market, 16 July 2024
- Co-presenter of a new public webinar on Strategic Enterprise Leadership, 8 May 2024
- Chair of the 17th Managing Partners Forum in Byron Bay, 14 and 15 March 2024
- Quote extensively in Law Institute of Victoria Journal article on future trends in the legal market, 4 March 2024
- Article in Law Council of Australia's Law Management Hub on managing partner succession, 24 January 2024
- Quoted extensively in a law.com (International) article on private equity investments in law firms, 13 March 2023
- Op-ed published in the Australian Article published on 9 March 2023
- Journal of the Australian Restructuring, Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA), December 2022
- Article on winning the war for talent in the Law Management Hub, 14 November 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review on 22 September 2022
- Keynote speaker Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA) Conference in the Barossa Valley, 16 September 2022
- Chair of the LawTech Summit on the Gold Coast, 9 September 2022
- Co-author of the 2022 Thomson Reuters State of the Australian Legal Market Report, published 1 September 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review on 14 July 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review on 9 June 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review on 12 May 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 10 March 2022
- Quoted in an article on law firm listings in Asian Legal Business, 28 February 2022
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 4 February 2022
- Quoted in Law Institute of Victoria article on legal market trends, 1 February 2022
- Article in the Law Management Hub, 6 November 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 4 November 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 8 October 2021
- Our pricing app, Price High or Low, was profiled in law.com, the #1 legal website in the world, 10 September 2021
- Co-author of the 2021 Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor State of the Legal Market Report, published 30 August 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 2 September 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 12 August 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 8 July 2021
- Panel member discussing industry trends as part of Macquarie Bank's thought leadership program, 12 May 2021
- Panel member discussing value as part of Beaton's Client Choice Festival, 12 May 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 25 March 2021
- Article in the Law Management Hub, 24 March 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 4 March 2021
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 5 February 2021
- Delighted to be a presenter at this year's Law Council World Masters Series, October to November 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 11 December 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 5 November 2020
- Co-author of the 2020 Australia State of the Legal Market Report published by Thompson Reuters Peer Monitor
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 9 October 2020
- Quoted in an article on law firm adjacencies in law.com, 1 October 2020
- Article on making firms more valuable by focusing on intangible assets, Law Management Hub, August 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 28 August 2020
- Article on client relationship management published in the WA Law Society Journal, Brief, August 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 7 August 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 9 July 2020
- Article on pricing published in the WA Law Society Journal, Brief, June 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 4 June 2020
- Speaker at ALTAcon in Sydney on 29 May 2020
- Quoted in Lawyers Weekly article, 15 May 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 8 May 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 2 April 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 6 March 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 7 February 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 12 December 2019
- Quoted in "The Rise of the Non-Legal Professional", Law Institute of Victoria Journal, December 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 29 November 2019
- Keynote speaker, Law Society of Tasmania event, 16 and 17 March 2020
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 18 October 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 3 October 2019
- Co-author of the Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor State of the Legal Market Report, 25 September 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 6 September 2019
- Article on legal supply chains published in Queensland Law Society's Proctor Journal, September 2019
- Seldon Rosser podcast with Graham Seldon, 19 August 2019
- Quoted in www.law.com article on the NZ Legal market, 13 August 2019Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2019
- Quoted in www.law.com article on Australian law international tie-ups, 16 July 2019
- Performance leader podcast with Ray D'Cruz, July 2109
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 5 July 2019
- Presenter and exhibitor at the ALTACON LegalTech Expo on 31 May 2019
- Law Management Hub guest post published, 16 May 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 3 May 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 4 April 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 1 March 2019
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 1 February 2019
- Speaking at the 2019 Managing Partners Forum, Sanctuary Cove (hosted by Chilli IQ)
- Co-author of the 2018 Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Report into the Australian Legal market
- Article published in Law Council's Law Management Hub, 27 November 2018
- Quoted in The Australian's Legal Review, 26 October 2018
- Op-ed on the rocket model in the Australian Financial Review, 14 September 2018
- ALPMA guest blog on smart collaboration, 27 August 2018
- Op-ed on EY's acquisition of Riverview Law in Lawyers Weekly, 24 August 2018
- Article on pricing published in the August-September 2018 edition of ACUITY
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 6 July 2018
- Article published in Law Council of Australia's Management Hub, 27 June 2018
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 23 June 2018
- Quoted in the Australian Financial Review, 1 May 2018
- Article on law firm value chain published in ALPMA's Survival Guide blog, 16 April 2018
- Article published in Law Council's Law Management Hub, 18 February 2018
- Quoted in the Australian Financial Review, 9 February 2018
- Article on Big 4 in law reposted on the Remaking Law Firms blog, Dialogue, January 2018
- Guest blogger on the Business of Trust platform, 14 March 2018
- Guest blogger on the FilePro platform, 26 March 2018
- Presenting the "Management for Professionals" subject at the Melbourne University Law School in October 2018
- Keynote speaker at the 2018 Managing Partners Forum in Byron Bay, 23-24 February 2018
- Invited to be keynote speaker at the LawLink Conference in New Zealand on 4-5 May 2018
- Invited to present an ALPMA seminar in Perth on 8 May 2108
- Invited to be the panel moderator at the International Bar Association (IBA) Law Firm Management Committee meeting in Sydney on 8 October 2017
- Op-ed in The Australian, 20 October 2017
- Op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, June 2017
- Invited to be a speaker at the 2017 ALPMA Summit in September 2017 in Brisbane
- Invited to be a speaker at the ADVOC Conference in August 2017 in Kuala Lumpur
- Presenting an APSMA ICON seminar on strategy in Singapore in August 2017, hosted by Clyde & Co
- Keynote speaker at the 2017 Managing Partners Forum at Byron Bay
- ALMPA guest blog post, July 2017
- Article reposted on the Remaking Law Firms blog, Dialogue, July 2017
- Article on board governance in CPA Australia’s IN THE BLACK magazine, May 2017 edition
- Article on the blockchain in the ACC’s Australian Corporate Lawyer magazine, Autumn 2017 edition
- Comments published on 2017 Harvard Business Review article on collaboration
- 2017 blog article published in Remaking Law Firms platform
- 2016 quote in Lawyers Weekly, and again, and again, and again
- 2016 quote in The Australian Financial Review and again
- Speaker at the Managing Partners Forum in August 2016
- Featured in Hall & Wilcox Smarter Law strategy launch
- Quoted in Westpac Business Focus March 2016
- Presented at the 2016 Beca Global Leadership Conference and published article with Jon Huxley in Ignite
- Launch of MBA IN A DAY public seminar program
- Increasing global reach of the Relationship Capital blog - listed 6th on a global Google search on the term “relationship capital”
- Lead author of the 2015 Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Report into the Australian Legal market
- 2015 press mentions in The Australian Financial Review and Lawyers Weekly
- Speaker at the Institute of Patent and Trademark Attorneys Australia (IPTA) Conference in April 2015
- Chair of the 9th LawTech Summit and Awards
- Keynote speaker at the Intellectual Property Society of ANZ conference
- Quoted extensively in a new book exploring trends in the legal industry
- Article on “Top Ten Tips to Differentiate Your Firm” published in PSF Journal
© Barolsky Advisors Pty Ltd, 2024