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Overview
Despite a period of deteriorating global economic conditions and some spectacular local collapses – such as Allco Finance Group and Great Southern – Australia and its legal services market have remained doggedly resilient.
Australia’s mega-firms – namely Allens Arthur Robinson, Blake Dawson, Clayton Utz, Freehills, Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Minter Ellison – have been at the forefront of a raft of emerging legal trends. Credit-crunch-induced debt restructuring, Asian inbound investment, fast-track capital raisings, government infrastructure spending and ongoing resources projects and transactions have all been crucial in keeping these practices profitable.
Meanwhile, boutiques and regional firms continue to challenge the established order, competing on quality and value. These include corporate-focused Chang, Pistilli & Simmons, regional players such as Queensland firm McCullough Robertson and Perth-based Blakiston & Crabb, as well as the emerging full-service offerings of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Gilbert + Tobin and Deacons.
Australia’s national firms remain concentrated in financial centres Sydney and Melbourne, though Brisbane and Perth are very much in vogue as resources and infrastructure development continues apace. The market will have to wait to see what impact the entrance of a new international heavyweight might have on the local state of competition – in June 2009, Norton Rose announced that it will merge with Deacons on 1 January 2010, offering local clients a regional and global platform.