Sparke Helmore’s family friendly policies, its collegiate work practices and a culture of work-life balance were the major influences for the KPMG Legal team, according to former KPMG Legal partner Genevieve Overell. These qualities were in stark contrast to the industry as a whole, Overell said, “which tends to treat performance as synonymous with billings”.

Sparke Helmore was recently rated as one of the fastest growing of Australia’s top 20 firms in a BRW 2003 survey. An average growth rate of 19 per cent over 10 years has seen the firm double in size over the past four years. Also, it is one of the few firms in Australia that operates as an integrated national partnership rather than as a state-by-state federated entity.