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Australia's top legal advisers revealed
Australia’s top legal advisers, in terms of M&A deal values and number of deals, have been uncovered in a new report.
Emma Musgrave
According to the new report by Mergermarket, Global and regional M&A: Q1-Q4 2016, Herbert Smith Freehills has come out on top, recording the highest M&A deal value and number of deals.
In terms of deal value, Allens was crowned the second-highest, with deals worth US$41.3 billion.
This was followed by King & Wood Mallesons with deals worth US$31.3 billion, Baker & McKenzie with deals worth US$26.4 billion, and Gilbert + Tobin with deals worth US$24.4 billion.
In terms of number of deals, King & Wood Mallesons came second to HSF, recording 62 deals.
This was followed by MinterEllison with 61 deals, Gilbert + Tobin with 58 deals and Allens with 44 deals.
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly last year, HSF global CEO Mark Rigotti said Australia’s legal sector is well positioned for long-term success.
“Australia is beautifully poised in the sense that if you look beyond the three-month outlook or one-year outlook, if you look in terms of decades, it’s in a wonderful position and the legal sector should benefit,” Mr Rigotti said.
“You need to look beyond the fog of the next six to 12 months and take a view of how you’re going to be relevant in a world where it’s not just about ‘fortress Australia’, it’s about Australia and how it interconnects to the rest of the world.”
Mr Rigotti highlighted that the Australian legal profession needs to consider its position in relation to the rest of the world, and not give up on our resources sector.
“One of the ways the legal sector needs to respond is to work out how to export their services,” he said at the time. “We’re beautifully poised in the fastest-growing region in the world – Asia. China’s growth has slowed but they are still building a country the size of the Netherlands every 12 months.”
He continued: “Also, we’ve got a whole pile of stuff that people across the world need that’s in the ground here. Our commodity prices might be down but there are hundreds and hundreds of years of coal, iron ore, uranium, copper and gold reserves.”
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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