The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Acquisition finance is a particular strength of Minter Ellison’s ‘highly capable and technically excellent’ team, with property and corporate finance also core areas. The ‘young and enthusiastic’ Stewart Robertson produces ‘first-class work’; he and ‘good dealmaker’ John Mosley led advice to an international syndicate of 12 lenders on finance provisions for a bid to acquire Healthscope. John Elias, the ‘very commercial and very personable’ Daniel Marks, and the ‘highly regarded’ Tony Berriman are recommended.

Within Capital markets, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison provides ‘an excellent level of service’, and houses the highly rated Bruce Cowley, Ralph Ayling and Stuart Johnson, who gives advice ‘tailored to the circumstance’. Also recommended is recent arrival Daniel Scotti, formerly of Freehills, who specialises in equity and hybrid capital raisings. One recent highlight saw the team advising Gloucester Coal on a A$230m capital raising. Westpac, Mirvac Group and Bank of New York Mellon are key clients.

Within Competition and trade, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison’s 60-strong practice advises blue-chip clients on merger clearance issues and complex cartel cases. It recently recruited Justin Oliver from the ACCC and Katrina Groshinski from Clayton Utz. Recent highlights include advising Sigma on selling its pharmaceutical operation to Aspen and assisting Anglo American with the sale of Moly-Cop to Onesteel. Russell Miller - a leader in the field of trade practice - oversees the team; the ‘efficient and effective’ Paul Schoff and Geoff Carter head the cartel and mergers groups, respectively.

Within Construction, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison has a raft of expertise in front and back-end construction work, with a noteworthy history in advising public sector clients. Ian Briggs was recently instructed by Queensland’s government to advise on construction of the $2bn Abbott Point multi cargo facility. Stewart Nankervis led advice to Victoria’s Department of Health on the redevelopment of Box Hill Hospital. Commercial development specialist Pamela Jack also does ‘excellent work’ in this area.

Within Corporate and M&A, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison acted for Rio Tinto on its A$4bn takeover bid for Riversdale Mining and advised Healthscope on TPG Capital and Carlyle’s A$2.7bn takeover of the private hospital operator. The highly regarded former Supreme Court of NSW Judge (equity division) Robert Austin joined the team as a consultant in 2011.

Within Dispute resolution, Minter Ellison is a third tier firm,

Minter Ellison’s Beverley Newbold acted for Qantas Airways in its misleading and deceptive conduct claims against Rolls-Royce arising following an emergency landing in Singapore in November 2010 by a Rolls-Royce powered Airbus A380 designated Qantas Flight 32. Ross Freeman and James Beaton are ‘astute litigators who get to the core issues quickly’.

Within Employment, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison couples a solid body of public sector work with strong litigation prowess. Recently, the team acted for the Queensland and Victorian governments on industrial issues. The group also has an impressive private sector client base, including large energy companies (Energy Australia, BHP group) and financial services entities (such as Amex and Lloyds (HBOS)). Andrew Cunningham recently assisted Westpac with a large enterprise agreement. Jim Fox heads the practice.

Within Energy and resources, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Having expanded from its traditional strength in the electricity sector, Minter Ellison’s broad-based energy and resources practice provides ‘fantastic service and very responsible lawyers who combine expert technical ability with solid commercial sense’. The group, headed by Mark Carkeet, acted for Rio Tinto on the A$3.9bn takeover of Riversdale Mining and advised Itochu Minerals & Energy and Mitsui Iron on a A$5.4bn joint venture with BHP Billiton and Japanese steel maker JFE Steel.

Within Insurance, Minter Ellison is a first tier firm,

The ‘exceptional’ Minter Ellison is ‘truly a client-centric law firm’, and provides a ‘full-service insurance practice’ with ‘top-class knowledge’. Recent highlights include defending clients including Allianz and QBE in asbestos litigation claims. It is representing PEET in a A$23.5m class action and associated multi-party litigation concerning migration of harmful gas from a landfill site at Cranbourne. Peter Coats is ‘particularly knowledgeable’; Pamela Madafiglio is also highly regarded.

Within Intellectual property, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison advises on IP protection, commercialisation transactions and enforcement litigation. It acted for John Fairfax Publications in Federal Court proceedings alleging that ABIX online news abstracting service infringed copyright, and is representing Zurich in trade mark infringement litigation against an Australian company trading under the name Zurich Securities. Charles Alexander and Bruce Legorburu are recommended. John Fairbairn joined from Clayton Utz.

Within Legal market overview,

The major players nationally - Allens Arthur Robinson, Freehills, Clayton Utz, Blake Dawson, Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Minter Ellison - continue to attract top-end corporate deals, such as AXA SA and AMP’s joint bid to acquire AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, or the Singapore Exchange’s proposed takeover of the ASX.

Within Projects and infrastructure, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison’s project finance specialist Paul Paxton and PPP expert Fred Tinsley advise bank syndicates and federal or state government departments on health, transport, and environmental projects. Peter Block and Stewart Nankervis recently assisted the Victorian government on the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Project.

Within Real estate, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison is renowned for its public sector work, but also acts for a number of leading property groups including Westfield, Mirvac and Goodman Group. Virginia Briggs advised Mirvac on the A$413m acquisition of Westpac Office Trust, and is recommended along with Cameron Charlton and Robin Lyons.

Within Restructuring and insolvency, Minter Ellison is a first tier firm,

Minter Ellison’s métier is bank-appointed receivership work. It displays ‘business acumen’ and the deep-rooted ‘bench strength required for large jobs’. Brendon Watkins recently led advice to several major banks (including ANZ and CBA) on matters relating to the Great Southern collapse, and the ‘very capable’ Michael Hughes advised Anchorage on issues arising from the Alinta restructuring. Ian Walker heads the group.

Within TMT, Minter Ellison is a first tier firm,

Minter Ellison’s ‘talented and committed’ team has a proclivity for large IT outsourcing projects, and recently advised Qantas on a master services arrangement. The ‘straight-talking’ Anthony Lloyd heads the group, which is praised for its ‘commercial awareness and focus’. Despite losing Keith Robinson to Freehills, the group retains good bench strength, particularly in Peter Bartlett, Oliver Barrett and Richard Dammery.

Within Tax, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison combines ‘excellent technical knowledge’ with ‘practical implementation’. Stamp duty and advice on divestments, M&A, stamp duty and capital raising transactions are the key strengths for this ‘high-quality’ team, which includes Mark Green. Karen Payne is recommended for her ‘in-depth knowledge of tax issues’, and Rhys Guild- an authority on PAYG/GST - heads the practice. Capital gains tax expert David Pratley joined from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Within Transport, Minter Ellison is a second tier firm,

Minter Ellison acts for government bodies, major Asian airlines and ferry and rail companies on matters such as construction, asset financing and litigation. It is highly regarded for transport projects, and assisted Bombardier Transportation on its successful tender for the Gold Coast Rapid Transit PPP project. Other clients include Qantas and the Commonwealth government.