annual report 2012 – 13 - Australian Government Solicitor

Building capability and capacityThroughout the year the practice groupsreviewed their capabilities and capacity inlight of current client demand. Each practicegroup also reviewed its processes for ensuringthat work is allocated at appropriate levelshaving regard to workloads, efficiencies andclient preferences.We continued to support our practicenetworks, which are networks of AGS lawyerswith an interest in a particular area of lawwho share their expertise and experience,knowledge of new legislative or case lawdevelopments, precedents and trainingopportunities. Membership of these practicenetworks comes from across our 3 nationalpractice groups, ensuring that expertise isshared across groups.Our practice networks enable our lawyers towork collaboratively across the country, withour lawyers within each practice networkhaving regular contact through telephoneconferences, network meetings and email.We continued to invest in our nationaltraining program to ensure the continuousdevelopment of our expertise and thecurrency of our lawyers’ knowledge. Ourteam leaders and practice network leadersare closely involved in the development andimplementation of our training to ensureconsistency across locations and groups.AGS’s national IT system allows teamsacross the country to work seamlessly onmatters; it also means our lawyers haveinstant access to comprehensive researchdatabases, including our national LegalOpinions database, substantive precedentsand national templates. We have numerousnational specialist intranet pages aimedat sharing knowledge across our practicegroups. Our practice groups and networksare continuously involved in updating anddeveloping new knowledge databases to coverour legal areas.PROMOTING OUR EXPERTISEAn important strategy in our corporate planthis year was to proactively promote ourspecialist expertise and longevity and toenhance our reputation as a key provider ofcore government work – through both ourbusiness-winning efforts and our marketingand communications activities and events.A key activity in this year’s marketing strategywas the redesign of our website. The newsite, launched in November 2012, includedupdated content and functionality and astronger client focus. Content was tailoredto complement the information available toclients through the LSMUL and to provideeasier access to more comprehensive detailsabout our services and lawyers.Also in November, the legal professionpublication Australian Lawyers Weeklyfeatured a lengthy profile on AGS, describingus as ‘vital cogs in the machine’.In March we released our first vodcast (orvideocast) on the topic ‘Beware of hiddenleasing costs’. This was a new serviceoffered by our podcast partners, BRR Media(BoardRoom Radio). As with our podcasts, thevideo was offered to a number of broadcastpartners who embedded it in their websites.One of our major activities was thepublication and launch of the third volumeof Opinions of Attorneys-General of theCommonwealth of Australia with opinions ofSolicitors-General and the Attorney-General’sDepartment. This is featured in a case studyon page 41.We also produced a souvenir publicationto mark 110 years of service to theCommonwealth of Australia by AGS andits predecessor agencies – in particular theCommonwealth Crown Solicitor’s Office.The 2 publications and associated onlineresources provide a lasting record of AGS’scentrality to government since federation,and our continuing role as custodian of theCommonwealth legal corporate memory.24 AGS Annual report 2012–13