Australia

Global law firm Ashurst and major Australian law firm Thomson Geer announce that Ashurst's Canberra office is moving to Thomson Geer.  The office, renowned for its Commonwealth Government practice, will officially become part of Thomson Geer in early July, 2025. The team joining Thomson Geer includes seven Partners – Rob Andersen, Mathew Baldwin, Melanie McKean, Steve McKinney, Sarah Ross-Smith, Elissa Speight and Angela Summersby.  These partners bring with them decades of experience working for a wide range of Commonwealth clients, which they look forward to continuing with Thomson Geer.  Ashurst and Thomson Geer are working closely with their Commonwealth clients to ensure a seamless transition of work for relevant client matters. Lea Constantine, Ashurst's Head of Region for Australia said: "As a consequence of a review of our strategic priorities, Ashurst has decided to wind down its work for the Commonwealth under one of its panel arrangements." "Once we reached this decision, we were pleased to connect with Thomson Geer, a major Australian law firm that has a commitment to high quality and cultural standards.  This will ensure the Commonwealth Government will continue to receive the very best legal advice and services, as they have come to expect from our Canberra team.  Meanwhile, we are confident that all our people moving to Thomson Geer will continue to have the very best career opportunities." "We thank Thomson Geer for working collaboratively and professionally with us on this transition.  We also thank our Canberra colleagues for their many years of hard work and dedication to our firm.  They leave with our best wishes and our full support to continue their outstanding work for the Commonwealth Government." Thomson Geer Chief Executive Partner Adrian Tembel said: "Ashurst has built an outstanding Commonwealth Government legal practice.  I congratulate them on what they have created.  We will build on their success and invest further to ensure that this practice continues to be the 'go to' team for complex Commonwealth Government legal work across all areas of the Whole of Australian Government legal services panel.  We look forward to welcoming the excellent lawyers at all levels of the Ashurst Canberra team to Thomson Geer." "This move reflects the next stage of ongoing evolution of the Australian legal services market."

Thomson Geer has hired top Queensland based technology and cyber lawyer Hayden Delaney and his team of eight, bolstering the firm's national Intellectual Property and Technology team and providing greater depth to the needs of clients. Hayden and the team will join Thomson Geer in the new year, with Hayden joining as a Partner. He and his team are highly regarded and considered one of Queensland's best technology law practices. Thomson Geer Chief Executive Partner Adrian Tembel said: "The technology sector is rapidly evolving, with themes around digitisation, artificial intelligence and cyber security of keen interest for clients. With Hayden and his team on board, we will be able to better serve our clients on such critical issues." Hayden advises on complex technology transactions, privacy, cyber security and data protection, intellectual property strategy and enforcement. He has been recognised in a number of legal directories including Best Lawyers in Australia for IP Law, Information Technology Law and Privacy and Data Security Law; Doyles Guide as a Leading Technology, Media and Telecommunications Lawyer in Brisbane and Queensland; and World Trademark Review's WTR 1000 as one of the world's leading trade mark professionals. World Trademark Review describes Hayden as: "One of Australia’s leading IP and technology lawyers, whose breadth of skill and experience is top notch"..."He – along with the team he supervises – is responsive, pragmatic, creative and professional; they know their stuff and deliver it in a way that suits their clients.” The team joining Thomson Geer consists of Hayden, Partner Steven Hunwicks, Special Counsel Briar Francis, Senior Associate Hannah Fas, Associates Sarah Buchanan, Thomas Copley and Monica Nery, Lawyer Jacob Currie and Paralegal Sarah Lucas. This is the second group Thomson Geer has taken out of HopgoodGanim. In 2022 Thomson Geer strengthened its Perth corporate practice by appointing resources sector specialists Paul Harley and Sarah O'Brien-Smith and their team of eight, including a mining tenement management team. Paul and Sarah joined as Partners, adding deep resources knowledge to the firm and complementing the extensive transactional experience of Thomson Geer's Perth corporate team.  

Thomson Geer is pleased to announce two Partners from the Australian office of international law firm Clyde & Co will be joining the firm in 2025.Construction expert Phillip Coady and Financial Services regulatory specialist Liam Hennessy will join Thomson Geer's Sydney and Brisbane offices respectively. Phillip and Liam will between them bring around 14 senior and junior lawyers. Thomson Geer Chief Executive Partner Adrian Tembel said: “We look forward to welcoming Phillip, Liam and their teams to Thomson Geer. "Our domestic strength, the simplicity of how we operate and our competitiveness is highly attractive to Partners like Phillip and Liam. We think by coming to Thomson Geer they have found a firm that will assist them to reach their full potential." Phillip and his team will bolster the wider Construction team and strengthen collaboration across Thomson Geer's east coast offices. Phillip advises on the full lifecycle of construction projects, including dispute resolution, across the infrastructure and energy and natural resources sectors. He has worked for top tier firms in Australia and overseas, and in-house for a major international construction company. He has been named as a recommended construction lawyer in legal directory Doyle's Guide and been nominated for Construction and Infrastructure Partner of the Year in the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards. His experience includes acting for contractors on multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects, as well as in court disputes and arbitrations. Liam specialises in financial services risk and compliance, licensing and regulatory matters. He has extensive experience in advising on digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. His practice also includes advising on the establishment of wholesale and retail funds and associated advice, assisting insurance and superannuation funds with Financial Accountability Regime implementation, and all other aspects of financial services advice. Liam is a thought leader in the cryptocurrency space, regularly commenting in the media on issues affecting the sector and contributing articles on the topic. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Griffith University in Queensland, lecturing in Financial Service Regulation. Liam has worked at top tier Australian and international law firms and is a strong cultural fit for Thomson Geer. His joining Thomson Geer is a "return home" for him. He was a lawyer at the firm between 2010 and 2012. Phillip and Liam's move to Thomson Geer follows the announcement of the appointment of top Queensland-based technology and cyber lawyer Hayden Delaney and his team of eight to the Brisbane office.  

National law firm McCabes has taken a decisive step into the future of legal technology by partnering with LexisNexis, adopting its AI-powered legal platform, Lexis+AI. This partnership gives McCabes advanced research and case analysis capabilities, offering efficiency gains and benefits to both its clients and practitioners. Earlier in 2024, LexisNexis, a global leader in legal, regulatory, and business analytics, launched Lexis+ AI to the Australian market, a generative AI solution designed to transform legal work by providing citations linked in its responses to provide verifiable legal results. Information from Lexis+AI is grounded in one of the world’s largest repositories of reliable and exclusive legal content from LexisNexis, with McCabes deploying the platform across its Commercial, Government, and Insurance Divisions. “Utilising the most effective and secure technologies is crucial in delivering forward-thinking and competitive services to our clients,” said Andrew Lacey, Managing Principal at McCabes. “The integration of Lexis+AI has reshaped our workflow and is a valuable addition to our toolkit. It enables our practitioners to accelerate legal research and the preparation of legal advice, based on trusted sources with linked legal citations that can be verified.” Lexis+AI features conversational search, intelligent legal drafting, insightful summarisation, and document upload capabilities, all supported by state-of-the-art encryption and privacy technology to keep sensitive data secure. Market research conducted by LexisNexis highlighted that communication, research, and improved work quality are currently the most common uses for generative AI tools in the legal profession. “McCabes has exemplified how forward-thinking firms can leverage AI tools to optimise productivity, administering data-driven decision-making that benefits client outcomes,” said Greg Dickason, Managing Director at LexisNexis Asia Pacific. “Our AI tools are designed not only to streamline processes but also to uphold rigorous standards of accuracy and data security. ”