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International firm reveals plans to double Aussie presence
An international law firm has confirmed its plans to double in size across Australia within the coming years.
Emma Musgrave
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, HFW partner and head of the firm’s Sydney office Carolyn Chudleigh, said the firm is working to double its Australian presence within the next four to five years.
“For the Australian growth, we want to hopefully double in size across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth as a collective within the next four to five years. We're working towards this,” Ms Chudleigh said.
However, Ms Chudleigh noted that it’s paramount for the firm to find the right people for the task, highlighting that it’s not looking to grow for growth’s sake but as part of a focus on client demand coming out of six industry sectors: aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and resources, insurance and reinsurance, and shipping.
“We're not saying that if we do or don't achieve [the growth plans], it will be either a failure or a success because we'll grow appropriately. It’s got to be the right people. We've been, touch wood, very lucky with our recruitments so far and spend a lot of time on getting the right people,” she said.
“The focus remains on the six industry sectors that we would like to increase more.”
Currently, HFW Australia employs 22 partners and more than 70 legal staff across the three offices.
When asked whether or not the firm intends to expand its office count in Australia as part of its growth plans, Ms Chudleigh said it was not ruling it out.
“We’re not saying no. If anything it would be a natural growth into Queensland/Brisbane,” she said.
“It’s because of the energy, resources, mining, agribusiness, infrastructure, property development sectors — it ticks a lot of those boxes — and funnily enough insurance fits into all of that and indeed there are quite a number of ports and export facilities up and down the Queensland coast of which would fit with us as well.
“So there are no solid plans at the moment but we are keeping a relaxed eye out for potential opportunities in Queensland.”
Speaking generally, Ms Chudleigh highlighted the importance of law firms providing legal services nationwide.
“I do think that the servicing of the whole of Australia is important for global firms to be able to do — that's my view. You can't be a global firm that comes in and just looks after one jurisdiction because Australia is very much state-focused on a number of our laws and on a number of our sectors. You can have a property boom happening in one city and it’s completely down in another city,” she explained.
“I'm not suggesting that you need to have an office in every capital city but in key cities that can service a very active state, such as Queensland, which can be a little bit like Western Australia — very loud in one year and very uncertain the next year.”
Pictured: HFW Australia partner and head of the Sydney office Carolyn Chudleigh.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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