We recently had the privilege of interviewing Henzie Healley, the Managing Partner of a corporate-commercial legal consultancy and registered corporate service provider with ADGM. Henzie is an accomplished and skilled, common-law qualified lawyer with an LLB with honors from a university in New Zealand, living and has been practicing law in the UAE since the beginning of 2014 with clients from all around the world.
Henzie Healley shares her profound insights about evolving as an industry leader, setting herself and her company apart, and navigating through cultural differences.
Spark Behind Setting Up Her Own Legal Consultancy
We started the interview by asking, “What inspired you to start your company or become an industry leader?”
Henzie Healley responds, “Its always nice to receive confirmation that we are doing things right by calling me an industry leader! The legal consultancy started a long time ago after I prayed for a job that I would love. After being put in a position that pushed me no other way, I am extremely grateful that this was the outcome.”
Following The Core Principles
We were curious to learn the principles followed by Henzie’s legal consultancy. We asked, “What is the mission and vision of your company? How do you ensure that these principles are embedded throughout your organization?”
She asserts, “The mission of our legal consultancy is to disrupt the status quo of law firms, providing personalized services, all from senior lawyers. Our vision is to be legal advisors that people and companies can trust, strong business partners, and leaders in the corporate commercial legal space, not only in the UAE, but also in various other countries around the world.”
Unlocking Major Milestones
We asked, “What was a pivotal decision or risk you took that impacted your career or company?”
Henzie Healley continued, “Starting my own business would have been one of them – a risk that greatly impacted the trajectory of my life, just as it would anyone else’s.”
Retaining The Right Talents
Having the right talents in the team is paramount to establishing a solid position in the market. So, we asked, “How do you attract top talent and foster a culture of collaboration?”
“All of our staff have gone through a rigorous interviewing process, and quality management remains key and core to the services we provide. Creative and out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged within the firm, and often leads to some of the best outcomes for our clients. Most lawyers are too traditional in their thinking (and difficult to encourage to think otherwise). Our office is mostly women lawyers (by chance) and we are like a family. We always consider how someone new would impact the dynamic of the team, as we collaborate and interact with each other, daily. Every idea is considered and every possibility explored. We are set on getting our clients the best outcomes” Henzie Healley replied.
Setting Her Company Apart
To learn more about the unique services and features offered by Henzie’s legal consultancy, we asked, “How do you differentiate your company from competitors? What unique value proposition do you offer to your customers?”
She responds, “With traditional firms, a client will often see the partner once (in the initial meeting) and then the work will be carried out by associates (who are often still learning). With us, we only have senior lawyers who provide legal services and the lawyers the client interacts with initially, are the ones the client will deal with throughout. This means that the client can create a meaningful business relationship with their legal consultancy firm and trust in the level of legal services being provided. By structuring ourselves this way, we are seeking to disrupt the status quo of traditional firms and the way that legal services are being provided.
In addition to providing all of the corporate-commercial legal services that a legal consultancy would provide, we also seek out the niche areas in the market. The gaps where legal services would be most beneficial to our clients (because really, the market does not need just “one more law firm”). By specializing in things like virtual assets and start-ups, regulated set-ups, logistics, franchising, cross-border transactions and other not-so-common sectors for a legal consultancy to be specialized in, we have found that the demand for these sets us apart from our competitors but also provides a benefit to the market in general by helping the clients that need them.
Incorporating Social Responsibilities
As a business operating in a dynamic landscape, it is crucial to incorporate and move forward in fulfilling the responsibilities. So, we asked, “What is your approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility?”
Henzie Healley passionately replied, “This is a fascinating question as we are working on something that will bring much-needed legal advice, support and services to NGOs or other NFPs that are in need but can’t afford it. It will be a concept that is different from pro-bono hours and will hopefully bring much needed change to markets all around the world in general.
We all have a responsibility to each other, God, and the planet. There are various ways of going about it, but the most important thing is that we each use what we have available to us and make a change for good, whatever that may be. That may spark more changes or give us the abilities to effect more of these. Like my business partner once told me, a good idea grows”.
Navigating Through The Differences
We were intrigued to learn more about the approaches adopted by Henzie Healley to ace in the global market. So, we asked, “How do you navigate international markets and cultural differences?”
Henzie Healley shared, “Having moved around a lot while I was growing up and having lived in many different countries, the UAE’s multi-cultural landscape is nothing new to me, albeit on a much larger scale and all in one place (instead of over several). As part of our team, we have five different nationalities, and the nationalities of our clients span from all around the world.
Some things are universal across all cultures, and those are respect and understanding. If respect and understanding is given both ways, you already speak part of the same language. Embracing this cultural diversity and the UAE’s central geographical location (being a center for business from all around the world), we not only have many multinational clients (and work on many transactions across various jurisdictions) but also seek to learn more about these different cultures and embrace the differences between us”.
Embracing Technology, we asked Henzie Healley
We ended the interview by asking, “What excites you about the future of your industry?”
“Technology. I have always been a huge advocate for technology and embracing this as a way of making business more efficient. Not eliminating the human aspect, but rather using it to increase efficiency and responsiveness.” Henzie Healley concluded.
Connect with Henzie Healley on LinkedIn
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