Meet the boutique firm winning millions in legal services contracts

A boutique Canberra law firm has won $20 million in legal services work from federal agencies in 2026, putting it ahead of global and interstate firms with hundreds of staff.

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The firm's success follows years of hard work and an unconventional approach that started when its founder abandoned billable hours in the early 2000s.

Ally Group founder Joanne Rees said her team put a strong emphasis on giving back to the community. Pictures supplied

Allygroup, based in Griffith, was one of three local law firms awarded more than $3 million in new contracts and variations on the whole-of-government legal services panel in the year to October.

Allygroup's federal government work grew by 49.5 per cent in the three years to 2026, according to AusTender records, putting it above global giant Ashurst and Melbourne-headquartered Gadens.

After working as a partner at three different law firms, Allygroup founder Joanne Rees said, she realised that a lot of her work was project management.

"We are trained in process as lawyers, and often it means that process takes precedent over the outcome," Ms Rees said.

"I got interested in project management as an alternative model to billable time - that's the conventional model where you're charging in six-minute units.

"So Allygroup was set up (in 2007) as a legal project management service; the business model is you go in with an outcome to deliver and a budget."

That shift towards a business model that is more common in other industries, as diverse as consulting and construction, helped Allygroup turn heads in government.

"Some of our early work with Commonwealth government clients involved helping them clear processing backlogs," Ms Rees said.

"A client might say 'we can't outsource this work because there's sensitive records or information involved, but could you bring your staff in-house?'

"I was in Sydney for years, but in 2018 I decided to come back to Canberra, where I'd been previously, in anticipation of the government setting up centralised panels.

"We had been advocating for centralised panels to help keep costs down for years before this."

Ms Rees' team got on the first whole-of-government legal services panel in 2019 - which meant they could bid for government contracts - and was soon working with a handful of agencies.

Allygroup now has about 80 people working across about 20 agencies and departments, including with its biggest federal government client, Services Australia.

There had been plenty of tough times, Ms Rees said, but the business had entered a more stable period in the past year or so.

"The figures look big, but our margins aren't big, and most of the money that we get is going to the people who work for us," she said.

"One fact that often surprises people is our commitment to pro bono work for community organisations, including leading Canberra-based organisations in the suicide prevention, science coordination, and mental health spaces.

"Allygroup was recognised in 2022 as having the highest pro bono contribution per full-time equivalent lawyer in Australia (of the firms on the whole of government panel).

"That reflects a strong emphasis on giving back to the community and using legal expertise to support organisations that might not otherwise have access to it."

Limber and Flxbl were the other two Canberra-based firms in the top 25 for value of legal services work won from government since January.

Limber has started new contracts or varied existing contracts with eight agencies in 2026, including Social Services and Defence, for a total value of $6.2 million.

Flxbl's biggest clients on new or varied contracts in 2026 - worth $3.1 million - were Social Services and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A Social Services spokesperson cautioned against interpreting the contract values as the amount actually spent on legal services by the department.

"Seconded legal support is used on an as-needed basis where additional expertise or capacity is required," the spokesperson said.

"This blended workforce enables the Department to respond to fluctuations in legal workload while ensuring resources are used effectively and appropriately.

"The AusTender records relate to the Department's contracts for engaging specialist seconded legal support across multiple years.

"The contract value is an upper limit and should not be interpreted as total expenditure.

"Actual costs depend on the level of services ultimately used in the financial year."

Limber and Flxbl have been contacted for comment.

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