Taking Your Law Firm to the Next Level

Amy Soong, founder of Ashworth Lawyers, shares ten lessons from a decade of building a sustainable, high-performing law firm – lessons that apply across professional and service industries.

Building and growing a business in 2026 is more competitive than ever, particularly in the service-based industry. As a criminal lawyer for over 18 years, Amy Soong founded Ashworth Lawyers in 2014. Today, Ashworth Lawyers is one of Queensland's few private-only criminal law firms, with a high-performing team focused on serious and complex criminal matters.

Amy shares her experience of starting a law firm from scratch and building a sustainable business over the past decade, and the practical ways she has found to stay ahead and stand out in a highly competitive market. A self-confessed minimalist, her philosophy has always been that less is more, with a focus on quality over quantity.

This is a practical session where Amy shares ten lessons from her own experience of what has worked, what hasn't worked, and what she has learnt along the way. The discussion covers building a strong team, developing systems, marketing, client service, use of technology, identifying and maximising opportunities, and achieving sustainable growth.

While the examples come from building a law firm, the lessons are relevant to businesses across a wide range of professional and service industries.

In this session, Amy will cover

• Building and growing a sustainable service-based business
• Standing out in a competitive market through reputation, client service and quality
• Building, leading and retaining a high-performing team
• Developing systems that support efficiency and long-term growth
• Using technology to improve client experience and business operations
• The importance of mindset in identifying and maximising opportunities for growth
• Avoiding common mistakes, with practical lessons learnt from over a decade of building a professional services business

Who it's for: Established business owners, founders, directors, managers and professionals who have moved beyond the start-up phase and want to take their service-based business to the next level through stronger teams, better systems and sustainable growth. Whether you run a law firm, accounting practice, consultancy, healthcare practice, financial services business, recruitment agency or another professional service, the lessons apply regardless of your industry.