Pinsent Masons is continuing its sustained international expansion drive with a new Australian arm in Perth and the hire of four infrastructure and energy partners from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF).
The UK law firm’s new Perth branch, to open in the autumn, will be its third Australian office after Sydney and Melbourne and its fifth international launch in the last 18 months.
NRF’s Australian arm will see the departure of four partners: construction and engineering specialists Rob Buchanan and Matthew Croagh, projects partner Adrienne Parker and arbitration veteran Bill Ryan.
Pinsents Australia head David Rennick, claiming that the group was a ‘stellar team’, said that the hires reflected Pinsents’ ambitions of carving out a strong position in the Australian and Asia-Pacific infrastructure sector.
NRF Australia managing partner Wayne Spanner connected the departures to his firm’s imminent combination with Australian law firm Henry Davis York, announced in June and expected for the second half of the year. ‘Some people will want to adopt a different course.’
Pinsents launched in Australia in 2015. The firm’s legal resourcing hub Vario will also begin operating in Australia, its first base outside the UK.
Pinsent Masons has invested heavily in its international operations in 2017. In June, the firm announced plans to launch in Dublin and the acquisition of diversity and inclusion specialist Brook Graham. In May, it entered Spain and South Africa with new offices in Madrid and Johannesburg.
In the last 18 months the 1,600-lawyer firm has also expanded in Germany, opening an office in Düsseldorf and acquiring boutique Munich practice Mayrhofer + Partner.