Maddocks continues innovation drive with appointment of new CIO

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Leading Australian law firm Maddocks has appointed Brad Kay as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead the firm’s information technology team and help drive the firm’s innovation strategy.

Brad brings to Maddocks more than 20 years' experience in leading technological change at some of Australia’s leading professional service firms and companies.

Immediately before joining Maddocks, Brad was the CIO at accounting and auditing firm Pitcher Partners. He has also had leadership roles at KPMG and Spotless Group.

Brad, who started with Maddocks this month, said he was excited to join the firm during a transformative time in the legal sector.

‘The ability to leverage technology for the benefit of our people and our clients is a given; the challenge in a digital economy is to create truly human-centred experiences,’ he said.

‘We are focusing our energy on those experiences that will create competitive advantage and value for our clients.’

Brad said that focusing on people was the path to an organisation becoming ‘digital by default’.

‘For those of us responsible for the technology piece, the answer lies in culture, the ability to tap into a diverse collection of talent and creating a capability that can invent the future rather than react to it.’

Maddocks CEO Michelle Dixon said Brad’s appointment was the continuation of significant investment in technology by the firm.

‘Last year we concluded a complete upgrade of our technology platforms to allow us to provide seamless service to our clients and for our people to be mobile and flexible,’ Michelle said.

‘We are also investing in implementing innovative ideas generated by our people. In 2016, for example, we launched a market-leading electronic contracts platform for our developer clients and we are currently examining a long list of potential new approaches to the way we deliver our services.’

Michelle said Brad would be integral in driving Maddocks technology offering.

‘Our view is that law firms who invest cleverly in technology will emerge the strongest from this period of immense change in the legal sector.

‘Brad’s prior experience in devising and driving strategy to improve the way that the companies he has worked for engage with their clients was a significant factor in his appointment.’