Legal leaders everywhere are grappling with the same challenges but don’t often get the chance or the space to step back, ask questions, swap stories, and share what’s actually working.
After hosting events in New Zealand, Australia, Austin, London, and Boston, we finally made it to Melbourne, a city we’ve been wanting to bring File Notes Live to for years.
What is File Notes Live?
File Notes Live is the in-person version of the File Notes podcast, a show that explores the realities of running and growing a modern law firm, and the stories of the people shaping them.
At every event, firm owners, operations leaders, and senior lawyers come together for honest conversations about building better law firms. The goal is simple: everyone should walk away with one or two tangible ideas they can put into action the very next day.
Melbourne marked our tenth event in the File Notes Live series, featuring Tessa van Duyn, CEO and Practice Leader at Moores. Just two weeks after joining the firm in March 2020, COVID-19 spread around the world and Melbourne went into lockdown, forcing Tessa to lead a radical transformation overnight. It was the beginning of a people-first leadership approach that continues to shape Moores today.
Big themes from Melbourne
Across cultural evolution, technology shifts, pricing overhauls, and values-driven leadership, Tessa shared the practical choices Moores has made, and the lessons other firms can borrow.
Here’s the three themes that stood out:
1. Leading cultural and technological change
The discussion began with Tessa’s dramatic first two weeks as CEO, stepping into the role expecting a typical transition, only to meet a global crisis head-on.
Becoming CEO in a crisis
Tessa thought her first priorities would be things like team structure and long-term strategy. Instead, the immediate priorities became safety, communication, remote work readiness, and supporting a team entering an unprecedented period of uncertainty.
Fast cultural change
Lockdown amplified strengths and weaknesses across the firm. Clear communication, a sense of psychological safety, and the ability to flex quickly became essential.
Moores leaned into:
- Sustainable workloads
- Hybrid work
- Boundaries that protect wellbeing
- Acceptance of non-linear careers
Tessa’s view:
“If we want people to perform at their best, our systems and culture need to support the whole human, not just the lawyer part.”
Acknowledging generational differences
Leading a team across different generations forced Tessa to think differently about:
- Communication styles
- Expectations around flexibility
- Attitudes toward hierarchy
- Comfort with technology
Interestingly, the biggest surprises often weren’t where she expected. Technology adoption didn’t always correlate with age. Instead mindset matters far more.
Around the room, leaders shared their own generational challenges, from email vs chat preferences to differing definitions of “responsiveness.”
Technological change
Covid and a change in ways of working exposed several system gaps at Moores and created an urgency to fix them.
Key themes from Tessa:
- Long-term transformation projects emerged from short-term pain
- Communication was everything
- Clarity beat detail
- Champions made a difference
- Fun mattered (“Change doesn’t need to be heavy all the time”)
2. Rolling out value-based pricing
This part of the evening sparked huge interest, with many leaders around the table experimenting with value-based pricing (VBP) already.
Moores has shifted toward a model that rewards outcomes, clarity, and client value, not time spent.
How they operationalized it
The mindset shift was substantial. Some people adjusted quickly; others needed space, coaching, and clarity around how success would now be measured. Tessa’s main points were:
- Start with a clear definition of value
- Pilot, iterate, and pressure-test against real matters
- Identify early signs the model is misaligned
- Redefine expectations about busyness vs effectiveness
Communicating it internally
The hardest mindset shifts included:
- Letting go of the billable hour as a measure of worth
- Trusting the process during ambiguity
- Separating “busy” from “valuable”
Communicating it to clients
The messaging changed from:
“What’s your hourly rate?” to “Here’s the value we’ll deliver, and here’s what it will cost.”
Clients responded with greater trust and better conversations.
Measuring success
Metrics that matter now:
- Client satisfaction
- Turnaround times
- Team engagement
- Profitability of fixed-fee matters
- Reduction in write-offs
Across all, the sentiment was clear: value-based pricing isn’t a pricing strategy, it’s a firm-wide cultural shift.
3. Turning firm values into everyday actions
This conversation brought the evening to a thoughtful close, exploring the difference between having values and living them.
Values Moores lives by
Moores’ values are grounded in clarity, empathy, courage, and impact, but what matters most is how they show up.
Values become actions
Tessa shared the practical mechanisms that make values tangible:
- Embedding values into recruitment
- Weaving them into performance conversations
- Using values as a decision-making filter
- Ensuring leaders model the behaviour
- Sharing stories that reflect values in action
One standout example was a difficult decision the leadership team made, guided entirely by values that reinforced integrity over convenience.
Accountability without punishment
Values must support people, not police them. Moores uses:
- Coaching conversations
- Developmental pathways
- Transparent expectations
The firm treats values like a shared language, not a compliance requirement.
Impact on recruitment and retention
A values-led culture has strengthened:
- Retention
- Alignment
- Talent attraction
- External reputation
- Client engagement
In a tight talent market, culture becomes a differentiator and Moores’ identity resonates strongly.
Key takeaways from Melbourne
The biggest lessons from the evening:
- Lead with clarity during change: People can handle almost anything if they understand why.
- Mindsets define adoption: Whether it’s new tech or new pricing, success depends on how people think about the change.
- Values must live everywhere: Not on posters, but in decisions.
- Pricing is cultural, not just financial: VBP shifts how teams think, not just how they bill.
- Culture is a performance system: Healthy cultures produce healthy firms.
A huge thank you to Tessa, the Moores team, our partners VXT and Actionstep, and everyone who joined us in Melbourne.
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