Described in some quarters as an overlawyered market for a country with a population of 25 million, Australia continues to attract investment from the international legal industry in all its shapes and forms. Global giant Dentons, recently-listed DWF and New Law outfit Lawyers On Demand (LOD) have all expanded their presence in the country.
Just over two years after entering Australia through a merger with national firm Gadens, Dentons has hit the 280-lawyer mark in the country after absorbing Adelaide-based Fisher Jeffries. ‘This completes our footprint across the major cities in Australia,’ regional chair and chief executive Doug Stipanicev told Legal Business.
Dentons first announced a tie-up with Gadens in November 2015 as part of a three-way union that also included Singaporean practice Rodyk & Davidson. However, the deal ran into delays over the partnership structure of the Australian firm, which operated different financial centres across its network. In December 2016 three of Gadens’ six offices finally joined Dentons – Perth, Sydney and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
Part of the Gadens network, Fisher Jeffries initially struck an association with Dentons but continued to operate as a separate partnership. Gadens also retains a presence in Brisbane, Melbourne and a smaller office in Sydney. Meanwhile, Dentons kept growing its Australian footprint. In November 2017 it launched in Melbourne, in 2018 it added Brisbane and hired 17 partners from ailing Australian shop DibbsBarker.
The deal announced in April sees all but one of Fisher Jeffries’ 14 partners join Dentons, adding expertise in financial services, corporate, dispute resolution, construction and engineering, employment, manufacturing and real estate. Stipanicev said the firm does not anticipate further expansion of its Australian footprint in the short term but was ‘not closed to opportunities should they arise’. He added that the market in Australia had been stable and the outlook was positive.
Elsewhere, contract lawyer business LOD announced at the end of April the acquisition of legal ops and tech platform lexvoco, adding 100 lawyers in Australia and New Zealand. The deal brings LOD’s Australasian lawyer headcount to 300 and means the lexvoco team will join LOD in their combined offices of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, while adding Adelaide and Geelong, as well as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in New Zealand to its global network. LOD, which last year secured private equity backing from Bowmark Capital in place of parent firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, first entered Australia in 2016 through a merger with AdventBalance.
Finally DWF expanded its presence in Australia in the same month it became the UK’s largest listed law firm. In March it grew its Australian legal team to around 90 after recruiting a 23-strong team of lawyers and support staff from Melbourne corporate advisory boutique WARD Lawyers.