Client Spotlight: Mana Ghadirian-Marnani – Checks and Balances Law

Mana Ghadirian-Marnani is the Principal of Checks and Balances Law, which provides seamless, meaningful and excellent legal services at affordable prices.

Mana, thank you for taking time out of your day to speak with me, I really appreciate it. Could we start with your career background? What has your journey been so far?

I came to Australia in 2014. I got my Bachelor of Laws from Shahid Beheshti University (pre-revolution the National University of Iran). When I finished my studies in Iran, I was looking at Western countries to migrate to and through a twist of fate I landed in Australia.

I mostly applied for American universities because they were more famous, so I only knew about them. I got accepted into a lot of American universities, including Berkeley School of Law, which is one of the best. But from memory, the tuition fee was $36,000 per semester. While everyone was celebrating my big achievement, in a state of panic because of tuition fees, my dad took me to a migration agent for Australian universities, which were a lot cheaper, and here I am.

I got my Master of Laws in Commercial Law from QUT in 2014. I did the Priestly 11 units at the University of Canberra and the practical legal training at the College of Law. When I got admitted in 2017, I was working for the University of Canberra as a peer advisor and library officer.

In 2018 I moved from Canberra to Sydney and started working in a small firm in the Northern Beaches. I worked there for about two years before starting my own firm.

You started Checks and Balances Law in September 2020 while a lot of people were still figuring out their response to COVID, what was that experience like?

I'm good with uncertainty. It was a good time to start a practice because government benefits were very easy to get at that time. It was a good time to not have a predictable or certain pay cheque, but it was a bad time for networking and establishing your business development relationships.

Your specialties are around business and commercial law, did having those specialties make starting your own firm a logical career move for you?

Previously, most of my work was in family law—being a woman I was increasingly given the family law work. I wanted to start my own practice to be able to carve out my experience and specialise in areas I enjoyed and was good at. If I were applying for jobs at other firms, they probably would have looked at my experience and thought I was a family law specialist.

What is it about commercial law that really inspires you? What do you love about it?

I like commercial law because it is logical and to me, straightforward. It is far reaching and important. A country with good commercial laws will benefit in terms of business confidence and ultimately that will benefit the economy.

You offer both traditional legal services and DIY options. Can you tell us a bit more about that and how that relates to your mission statement?

I believe that lawyers under-use technology and legal services can be really improved with the use of technology. I heavily invest in different technologies and DIY documents are one of them. Technology is not a substitute for a great lawyer, but it definitely helps.

You've got a comprehensive blog and social media presence. Can you tell us a little bit about your marketing and client acquisition, and how COVID has impacted that?

I'm still trying to figure out my marketing plan—it's a work in progress. Marketing keeps me on track, and it consolidates my knowledge. Hopefully it's helpful for my clients too.

Social media has been particularly helpful in finding and serving Iranian clients as I don’t think there are that many Persian-speaking lawyers in Australia.

I try to stay consistent with posting blogs and updates. You need an online presence not only for marketing purposes but for credibility and education as well.

I'm trying to get out and about more now that Covid restrictions are lifted, especially because I've only been in Sydney since 2018, and I don't have a massive network.

You currently have a small team working for you at Checks and Balances. What are your future plans? Would you like to expand your practice?

Now I just have a virtual assistant, but I would like to expand the business or go into a partnership with somebody at some stage in the future.

Having a business is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I still enjoy running my own firm. The flexibility is the main benefit for me—I am not cut out for 9 to 5 way of working.

What factors do you credit to the success of your firm so far? Is there anything that you've found has been key to getting things right?

Giving back and establishing trust is key. Clients need to be able to trust someone they are going to hire as their lawyer. Being consistent and publishing educational material has proven helpful.

Patience is also important. You might have an initial chat with a client and then you won’t hear from them for six months but then, one day they are there, ready to go.

I do have access to a niche community, the Iranian community. I wasn't targeting Iranian community until I had a chat with Sue-Ella Prodonovich, a business advisor, and she suggested that speaking Farsi and knowing the Iranian community was a big strength. That was a great idea because that has been a very good source of consistent workload.

What are some of the challenges you faced? How have you been approaching those?

Something I regret not doing earlier is learning more about business. I’ve always invested a lot in trying to learn the law. When I started, I had no idea how to run a business, and I'm still learning. The sooner you master those techniques and that knowledge required to run a business, the better, because it’s critical.

A good business consultant is a worthwhile investment. It is quite important to have somebody hold your hand and help you in the process, especially as a small business is starting out.

What made you choose mattero as your legal software?

I wanted something fast because I am extremely impatient! I wanted something affordable with beautiful eye-catching design, which mattero has, and it obviously has trust accounting, which I needed. It had everything I wanted, so it’s a perfect fit for my business.

I also wanted to be able to add my own customisable precedents, and mattero allows me to do that.

Your mission statement references the importance of technology for efficient services, can you speak to how mattero supports that for you?

mattero integrates with Xero, which reduces a lot of time needed for manual processes. You can't really live without a practice management software. I really like mattero, so it was a simple choice!

What advice would you give to lawyers who are considering opening their own firm?

Study how a business runs because that will serve you well in the future. Expand your network and do the cheesy things you read in business books, like find your ideal client, and try to be of service to that segment.

I do have some advice for immigrants and people from minority backgrounds. I was very intimidated by law at first, because everybody is mostly white, but don't be intimidated by that because law is not rocket-science, it is not quantum physics or philosophy. It is tangible and relatively easy!

Try to be good at what you do and serve the community and don't let negative self-talk take you down. Be proactive, get involved early, find your passion and be confident because chances are, you do bring something to the table.