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Felicity Nelson
A national head has left Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) to join Western Australian firm Lavan Legal.
A national head has left Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) to join Western Australian firm Lavan Legal.
Derek La Ferla (pictured) was formerly national leader of the corporate advisory team and the infrastructure, mining and commodities industry group at NRF.
An experienced company director, La Ferla is currently the chairman of Sandfire Resources NL, OTOC Limited and Cashmere Iron Limited. He will take up a position on Lavan Legal’s advisory board in addition to his role as partner.
“Derek will be an invaluable source of advice for our clients, bringing a strong corporate perspective to balancing their commercial and legal risk management needs,” said Lavan Legal managing partner Dean Hely.
“Derek also has significant connections in the Western Australian and Australian business communities and will play an important role in developing new business contacts for our clients and our firm.”
La Ferla said he looked forward to working with Lavan Legal: “I like the firm’s modern and commercial approach ... I believe that the firm has a fantastic team that will continue to deliver real value to our clients,“ he said.
“I also have the greatest respect for Norton Rose Fulbright and its people, and wish them well.”
NRF managing partner in Australia, Wayne Spanner, commented on La Ferla's departure, saying, “Occasionally, some of our people leave to pursue other opportunities. All firms experience this. We can confirm that Derek La Ferla has joined another firm and we wish him all the best.”
NRF recently added construction partner Adrienne Parker to its Perth office and will soon be joined by insurance partner Jehan-Philippe Wood from the London office. The global head of energy, Simon Currie, joined NRF in the Sydney office this month and M&A partner John Elliott will start in Sydney next week.
In October last year, the head of Rockwell Olivier’s workplace relations practice in Perth, Charmaine Tsang, quit to join to Lavan Legal.
