PwC Legal partner: Leaders need to model work/life balance and diversity 'right to the top'

Joelle Grace could have been in the medical field, but on realising that she was not strong in her chemistry subject as a high school student, she found herself steered towards a legal career – a field she has found herself to be much more suited for.

The seasoned corporate lawyer, who joined the partnership at PwC Legal earlier this year, has had a significant 2023 to date. She has finished a course in Te Reo, and is playing a key role in helping the firm to grow its presence in Ōtautahi, Christchurch.

In this interview, Grace talks about the firm’s AI-centred initiatives, modelling work/life balance and diversity at the top level, and how she feels when she encounters young lawyers who are “expected to achieve the unreasonable”.

What made you choose a career in law, and what's your favourite part of the job?

I decided to study law after discovering in high school that chemistry was not my strength (leading me away from an initial plan to study medicine). However, I have never looked back and am certainly much better suited to the legal profession.

I love that my role as a corporate lawyer has a real commercial focus. It is not about “winning” at all costs, but rather about finding solutions that meet my client’s needs and goals, and that are also acceptable to other stakeholders and counterparties. In many cases, this is the only way to enable the deal to be struck. I really enjoy working closely with my clients and team to identify commercial solutions on any sticking points and seeing the deal through to completion and beyond.

What is going on at the organisation? Are there any new programs and initiatives that you’re particularly interested in?

The establishment of PwC Legal in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, is itself a new initiative. I joined from the start of this year and I am really excited to be growing this legal business over the coming months and years.

In addition to this, since joining PwC Legal at the start of this year, I have loved seeing the number of exciting and innovative programs and initiatives, both at the local and global level. I have already completed a Te Reo course (which all PwC staff members are encouraged to participate in), and earlier this year the offices across the country celebrated Pride with new permanent art installations within a number of our offices.

I have also been thrilled to see the activities led by the PwC Foundation, which not only includes financial giving (such as significant support in the recent Hawkes Bay flood events), but also programs such as “On Board” which provides support to our people across the firm who would like to secure a board or advisory role with a not-for-profit (NFP) and are able to use their professional skills to give back to the community. Other PwC Foundation initiatives include “FLiP” and “Toitoi” which are fun volunteering opportunities for all staff to support financial literacy and reading in New Zealand schools and which encourage our teams to get hands-on experiences to connect with our communities.

What tech-related initiatives adopted by the organisation, if any, are you most excited about?

PwC’s Legal Business Solutions has recently announced a global partnership with artificial intelligence startup Harvey AI. This is based on OpenAI and Chat GPT technology, and will enable us to automate and enhance various aspects of our legal work.

It is really exciting to be at a firm that both recognises and embraces the changing world, so that we are at the forefront of the adoption of these new technologies. These solutions are designed to be human-led but tech-enabled, so we will seek to achieve that balance of specialised and personalised legal advice but supported by technology solutions.

What has been your proudest accomplishment in the last year or so? Or what’s the biggest lesson you learned in the past year and what advice can you give fellow lawyers about it?

It has been a big year for me in making the decision to move to PwC Legal, and grow the legal offering based out of Ōtautahi, Christchurch. I am really proud of taking that leap to enter a practice that is different to traditional law firms. At PwC Legal, we are focussed on providing integrated legal services to clients. Whilst I can still provide all the same corporate/commercial legal services to clients as I have done in the past, clients can also enjoy the benefits of an incredible further breadth of advisors, services and expertise in a seamless manner. As a result, our clients can enjoy a more holistic and comprehensive service, and our lawyers get broader exposure to business issues and other service lines, which gives them a deeper commercial understanding and focus as corporate lawyers.

What should the profession focus more on?

I am an advocate for work/life balance and gender equality in the profession. I know many of us have seen (and in many cases, experienced) this getting quite out of balance. Although many firms now have wellness and diversity policies as well as other tools to seek to address the issues, I do see there is still some way to go. I hate to still come across young lawyers who are expected to achieve the unreasonable and constantly work extremely excessive hours, simply because that is “how it has always been done”. Times have changed, and that is no longer acceptable, nor beneficial, to any firm.

As leaders, we need to lead the way we want our staff to follow, which also means modelling work/life balance and diversity right to the top. The initiatives, policies and systems that are in place need to be designed to be used, and to truly help people to work flexibly, and to support them to continue to achieve their professional goals whilst also being parents or maintaining healthy working practices that promote their wellbeing.

What are the challenges you expect in your practice, and in the business of law in general, going forward?

It is going to be about embracing technology and embracing change. There is a lot going on in this area at the moment, and firms that decide to ignore it and keep doing what they have always done will fall behind and find it even harder to be competitive and to recruit and retain talent. As lawyers, we all need to keep across the global developments in this space, and firms need to be agile and flexible enough to be open to new ways of working.

Of course there was a time when sending an email rather than posting a letter was seen as innovative and new – who knows what major changes could become the new norm over the next few years!

What are you looking forward to the most in the coming year?

I am looking forward to further settling into my new role at PwC, and growing the practice in Ōtautahi, Christchurch. I made the move to PwC along with my long time friend and colleague, Claire Evans, and together we have already established our local team, with further growth plans on the horizon.

I am excited by the opportunities available to me from being part of a global firm with multiple service lines, and to working with my fellow partners to enable our clients to receive the full benefits of our integrated offering.