Phillips Fox law firm news

A summary of deals information received by ALB this week.

DLA Phillips Fox would have been better off concentrating on existing strengths rather than pursuing an international merger, according to a former partner.

DLA Piper has lost another cluster of partners, only a week after entering the Australian market through a merger with DLA Phillips Fox.

Thomson Lawyers has set itself an ambitious target to create a national firm and grow 40% at its new Brisbane office in the next 12 to 24 months.

The former NZ office of DLA Phillips Fox, which cut ties with its Australian counterparts last year, has announced the appointment of six new partners.

Only weeks out from the official integration of DLA Phillips Fox and DLA Piper, it has emerged that partners at the global firm will now be required to take three months ‘gardening leave’ when they resign.

Eight law firms across the country have exposed their environmental report card to the world in the inaugural Environmental Consumption of AusLSA Members report 2009/2010.

TressCox Lawyers has become the latest firm to secure ex DLA Phillips Fox talent.

Nine DLA Phillips Fox partners have defected only weeks out from the official commencement of the DLA Piper merger.

The Australian Legal Sector Alliance (AusLSA) has been formed in partnership with the Net Balance Foundation and so far includes Clayton Utz, DLA Phillips Fox, Henry Davis York, Jackson McDonald, Maddocks, McCullough Robertson, Norton Rose Australia and Swaab Attorneys.

The dynamic Perth market has proved too hard to ignore for insurance specialist Moray & Agnew, which has opened a new office there to be headed by Phil Keays.

Environmental lawyers and their clients are waiting with bated breath for further details on the Gillard Government’s carbon pricing scheme. And while there is still a great deal of uncertainty around the proposal to introduce a fixed carbon price by 1 July next year, one thing is for certain: environmental lawyers will be hot demand.

DLA Piper will officially enter the Australian market on 1 May, after a successful partner vote at both DLA Piper and DLA Phillips Fox.

Moray & Agnew has bolstered its partnership with the appointment of former DLA Phillips Fox partner Peter Tredinnick.

DLA Phillips Fox has had its first casualty since announcing financial integration with DLA Piper. Head of the workplace relations and employment law team, John Tuck, has joined Corrs Chambers Westgarth as a partner in the Melbourne office.

Competition in the Australian legal market is set to intensify with the announcement that UK’s largest firm Clifford Chance is moving in.

Kristy Fraser-Kirk may have settled her A$37m battle against David Jones for substantially less, but employment and workplace lawyers are experiencing an increased level of client queries in the aftermath.

2011 promises to be another year of intrigue and transformation for many of Australia and New Zealand’s best-known firms. ALB starts the year by nominating ten firms for whom 2011 will be a particularly critical year. Whether they are law firms primed for growth or ones that are looking to recover from a setback, here are the firms that have a point to prove to the market.

After months of industry speculation, DLA Phillips Fox and DLA Piper have finally committed to a date for financial integration of the two firms.

More Brisbane law firms have returned to their offices today, nearly two weeks after the devastating floods in Brisbane forced many CBD buildings to be evacuated.