From $10,000 Consulting Quotes to an Affordable In-House Solution

The Company

A Respected Mid-Sized Brisbane Law Firm with Diverse Practice Areas

This well-established law firm is located in Brisbane's CBD and provides legal services across multiple practice areas including corporate law, property, family law, and employment law. Founded in 2007, the firm has grown to 38 employees including 14 practicing lawyers, 6 paralegals, and 18 administrative and support staff. The firm serves a diverse client base of small to medium businesses, property developers, and individuals across Southeast Queensland.

As legal professionals who regularly advise clients on employment matters including workplace health and safety obligations, the firm holds itself to high standards of compliance. The firm also maintains a strong commitment to creating an inclusive and respectful workplace culture, with several women in senior leadership positions, including the Managing Partner.

The Challenge

The Irony of High Consulting Costs for Legal Professionals

When Queensland announced the Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation requiring all businesses to implement prevention plans by 2025, the law firm faced an unexpected challenge. "There was an irony to our situation," explains the Managing Partner. "While we advise clients on employment law, our specialization is broader corporate and property law. Creating a fully compliant sexual harassment prevention plan that meets all the specific requirements of the new regulation would require specialized expertise in that area of employment law."

The firm initially approached several specialized workplace compliance consultancies for quotes. "We were shocked by the proposals we received," says the Managing Partner. "The quotes ranged from $9,000 to $12,000 for a comprehensive compliance solution, including risk assessment, plan development, and staff training materials. As a mid-sized business with around 40 staff, this represented a significant unbudgeted expense."

Their operations manager attempted to develop a prevention plan in-house using resources from WorkSafe Queensland, but found the process time-consuming and complex. "We started piecing together policies from various sources, but we weren't confident in the completeness of our approach. The potential fines for non-compliance would be substantial, and as legal professionals, we needed to ensure we got this right. We spent about 10 hours on this and still had significant gaps."

The Solution

An Expert System Built Specifically for Queensland Compliance

After discovering QLD Compliance Plan through a legal industry newsletter, the firm's operations team decided to explore this alternative solution. "What immediately impressed us was that this platform was specifically designed around Queensland's new regulation," explains the Operations Manager. "It wasn't a generic compliance tool adapted for Queensland—it was built from the ground up to address the specific statutory requirements."

The platform's risk assessment tool with legal sector-specific scenarios

The firm opted for the Premium Plan at A$199 per month, which provided enhanced customization options and the team collaboration features they needed. Using the platform's legal profession templates, the firm was able to efficiently create a comprehensive sexual harassment prevention plan tailored to their specific workplace context, including considerations for client interactions and the professional nature of their services.

"The platform guided us through a detailed risk assessment process that identified factors specific to legal environments, like power imbalances in professional hierarchies, client meetings, and after-hours work," says the Operations Manager. "The document generation system then produced a complete prevention plan that we could review, adjust, and finalize with confidence that it covered all the regulatory requirements."

The Results

Significant Cost Savings with Increased Compliance Confidence

By using QLD Compliance Plan instead of an external consulting service, the legal firm achieved substantial savings. "We invested in the annual Premium Plan for $1,990, which saved us at least $8,500 compared to the consulting quotes we received," explains the Managing Partner. "Even factoring in the approximately 8 hours our team spent working with the platform, the cost efficiency was remarkable."

Beyond the financial savings, the firm also benefited from increased confidence in their compliance status. "The platform keeps us updated on any regulatory changes and provides automated reminders for review periods," says the Operations Manager. "We also found the staff training resources particularly valuable. We've been able to conduct comprehensive awareness sessions with all employees and integrate the prevention plan content into our onboarding process for new hires."

The experience has also changed how the firm approaches other compliance matters. "This has been something of a revelation for us," admits the Managing Partner. "As lawyers, we sometimes default to thinking we need specialized external expertise for compliance matters outside our core practice areas. This experience has shown us that with the right tools, we can successfully manage many of these processes in-house. We're now looking at implementing a similar approach for other regulatory compliance matters across our business."