Profile
"West Oak’s success has come from always putting our clients’ best interests first and always finding ways to improve and add more value to them"
Andrew mcquiston,
west oak family office, wellington-altus private wealth
The legal profession for the most part has maintained a traditional approach but Quinn Martin Ross, managing partner of the Ross Firm Professional Corp., is what some may call a rebel because he is doing things differently.
“At my core, what I want to do is take things that don’t make sense and do them better – and two easy things to do better are how we practice law and how we engage each other at work.”
With the goals of innovation and humanizing the practice of law in mind, The Ross Firm developed a unique “culture of abundance” approach driven by interactions with struggling colleagues. Historically, management teams at some law firms would view not meeting KPIs as a dispositional problem with the individual that must be remedied. However, Ross notes it’s established psychological truth that most off-brand experiences you have with a person stem from a situational, not dispositional reality.
So the firm turned the traditional model on its head and endeavoured to ascertain what tools the person is lacking, or what complex life experiences are intervening, which make it hard for them to actualize. And, more critically, how the firm can help remove those barriers.
“We decided to take compassion and care as the first step to every interaction, and to give as much as we could to the people within the organization with both the altruistic and eventual economic benefits that come from that,” Ross says. “People just do better when they’re treated with a little kindness and as human beings.”
The COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities to be more revolutionary in the move to humanizing law: moving to a four-day work week while salaries remained unchanged and implementing flexible working arrangements. Some would say there’s no better time to make major changes to an ecosystem than when it’s already in flux. So, leveraging existing work on process iteration breakdown and development, the firm made the switch to a shorter week in a controlled way. They started baseline testing of both psychological and productivity metrics, designated key champions in each department to lead feedback loops to management, and focused on ensuring continuity of care for clients.
While nobody is required to work on their day off, “they’re still lawyers,” Ross laughs, adding that even if they do choose to do some work “the day has a completely different psychological weight and is still far more restorative.” This is borne out by the data, which shows lower burnout rates, next to no sick day usage, and far less attrition. In fact, he says “attraction exploded and so too did the size of our firm, and we’ve been building on it ever since.”
The firm now consults about their experience through professional services, but the most rewarding feedback is staff at other firms printing off write-ups about the Ross Firm’s four-day week and slipping them into the inboxes of senior partners “as a nod to trying something a little bit different.” Going against the grain is a hallmark of his firm, as the team continues to investigate the blue spaces to find new ways to deliver excellent and efficient legal services.
Underpinning that effort is the desire to create a more human workplace, faced with the reality that traditional constructs somehow ignore the fact that people are asked to give up at least 1/3 of their waking lives to their jobs, and the traditional model does not allow for people to bring their whole selves to work.
“We’re not unicorns doing something so unique that we cannot find really great ways to create and streamline process while also allowing the people who work with us to do what interests them,” Ross says. “It’s finding those connections to create a human ecosystem that’s dynamic, thoughtful, caring, and supportive but still able to carry on business. As we like to say, someday everyone will be doing it this way – but we’re doing it now.”
100-144 Courthouse Square, Goderich, ON N7A1M9
519 525 3570
qmross@rossfirm.com
linkedin.com/in/quinn-m-ross-81b81319
rossfirm.com
Quinn Martin Ross
Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer
The Ross Firm Professional Corporation
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
2020–present
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Deputy Principal at Australian Christian College - Southlands
Doctor of Education
2020–present
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2021
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Year 7 Community Leader and Leader for Learning Technologies and Platforms at Northern Beaches Christian School
Master of Business Administration, 2017–2019
2021
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2005
2008
2017–2018
2020
2022
Quinn Martin Ross
Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer
The Ross Firm Professional Corporation
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2005
2008
2017–2018
2020
2022
Quinn Martin Ross
Managing Partner and Chief
Executive Officer
The Ross Firm Professional Corporation
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2022
2020
2017–2018
2008
2005
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario
Inaugural Chair of Futures Committee of the Law Society of Ontario
Recognized as one of Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers
2022
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2020
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Rolled out the four-day work week in his firm, making it the first law firm in Canada to implement this policy
2020
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2017–2018
Human Resources Magazine | key media
President of the Ontario Bar Association
2017–2018
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2008
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Joined his firm as a Partner
2008
2009–2011
2005
human resources | key media
Called to the Bar of Ontario
2005
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Milestones
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
2022
Excellence awardee – Independent Mortgage Adviser of the Year category at the New Zealand Mortgage Awards
2022
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2022
2020–present
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Deputy Principal at Australian Christian College - Southlands
Doctor of Education
2020–present
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2021
Launched his own business,
Ascend Financial Services
2022
2022
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2021
Launched his own business,
Ascend Financial Services
2022
https://indigenousconnect.org/