Login
Property partner departs KWM
One of Australia’s leading real estate lawyers has moved from King & Wood Mallesons to Clayton Utz.
Digital
Andrew Norman (pictured) will join Clayton Utz’s Melbourne practice as a partner in the firm’s national real estate practice.
He began his legal career at KWM (then Mallesons Stephen Jacques) as an articled clerk in 1991, and has acted on some of the largest real estate deals that have been undertaken in the Sydney and Melbourne markets.
There has been much upheaval at KWM in recent months, with Sue Kench taking over as managing partner from Tony O’Malley, and the firm recently announcing a merger with Silver Circle UK firm SJ Berwin.
Norman is not the first recent high-profile partner departure either, with KWM’s former M&A head Craig Semple having left the firm to join Gibert + Tobin’s Melbourne office.
Norman’s record includes acting on: the leasing and development of NAB’s commercial office headquarters in Docklands, Melbourne; the sale of the 11-property Australand National Industrial Airport Portfolio and Australand’s Victorian portfolio of industrial and commercial properties; the financing of the acquisition of the $846 million Woolworths Distribution Centre Portfolio; the sale of GE Real Estate’s Australian property portfolio, valued at over $1.4 billion over several tranches, and the sale and leaseback of the $570 million Telstra commercial office portfolio.
Gary Best, the national head of Clayton Utz’s real estate practice, said Norman was a natural fit for the firm: “Andrew is a great addition to the Clayton Utz team. He is a lawyer of undoubted quality and tremendous experience, having acted for some of the largest players in the Australian market.
“Andrew has a strong industry reputation and is respected both personally and professionally as one of the market's leading practitioners in this area.”
Clayton Utz has acted on a number of complex property projects, including the $3 billion Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct Project and the landmark Barangaroo urban renewal project, the largest CBD development in the history of Sydney.
Norman is not Clayton Utz’s only recent appointment, with the firm having also recently appointed two new partners in the financial services area.
