Brendan Coady likes to avoid conflicts of interest, and that is one of the reasons he decided to move from Gilbert + Tobin (G+T) to Maddocks' IP team, as a commercial partner.

Coady had been in the G+T partnership for eight years and was attracted to Maddocks for the opportunity that it presented to build his practice in the commercial, IP, telecommunications and IT space. "I have always had a soft spot for G+T, but conflict of interests caused by its presence on panels sometimes affected my ability to act for my telco clients. I have known Maddocks partner Peter Shaw for many years and we set up a meeting with CEO David Rennick. We found that moving to Maddocks would allow me to keep advising all of my clients," he said.

Most of his current or previous clients - which include PBL Media, AGL, NRMA Motoring and Services, Tenix and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation - have been supportive of the move. So far both Aristocrat and Macquarie Telecom, which Coady has advised on regulatory and commercial legal issues, have agreed to move with him to Maddocks.

Former Maddocks special counsel Jennifer Huppert recently left the firm to begin a new life of politics in the Victorian State Parliament.