Speaking at a human resources networking breakfast, hosted by Directioneering in Sydney, Carpenter said that HR and marketing teams within firms need to work together with partners to develop the tools and approaches that will help deliver on client needs and lift the firm's external brand.

Such collaboration, said Carpenter, will ensure a firm's strategic goals are achieved.

"We recognised, at Corrs, [that] we wanted to lift the perception of our brand externally," Carpenter said.

"So I put a team of rainmakers, marketers and a brand agency [together] to do very in-depth interviews with our client base and to understand deeply what the client really needed and what they were most frustrated by with their law firms."

The interviews were particularly revealing, according to Carpenter. "Really heartfelt needs [were] coming through these interviews, which we responded to in our brand promise and we built characteristics...that absolutely deliver on those needs of our clients," she said.

Carpenter added that Corrs took that brand promise and those characteristics and recognised they had to change the way the firm provided its services.

As such, they worked with the learning and development team to develop new tools and approaches for helping lawyers and partners on a number of improvements - including pricing differently; project-managing their matters; and providing more transparency around how matters are unfolding.

Carpenter also emphasised how important it is to work with your peers in other areas and to recognise that you have a common agenda.

"Your common agenda is to drive the organisation to success by delivering on customer needs, better than your competitors," she said.

- Briana Everett