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Wotton + Kearney to expand into Singapore
International law firm Wotton + Kearney, which has nine offices across Australia and New Zealand, is set to open its 10th office in Singapore with two partners from a global rival as the BigLaw player sets its sights on the south-east Asian city-state as a global insurance hub.
Jerome Doraisamy
Wotton + Kearney is moving to further its global ambitions by setting up a substantive base in Singapore (its first in mainland Asia), meaning the firm will now have 10 offices across three countries.
W+K’s presence in Singapore will be led by partners Ben Nicholson, who is joining the firm from Kennedys Singapore, alongside partner Tom Morrison, also joining from Kennedys.
The BigLaw firm’s Singapore office is set to open in June.
The news follows a period of significant growth for W+K.
Just before Christmas, it promoted 34 lawyers to more senior positions, including three to partner, following the 34 it elevated (including four to partner) in June of last year.
Recently, the firm also added a health partner from BigLaw rival Lander & Rogers in October and hired a new special counsel and senior associate for its cyber and technology advisory practice in November.
The firm’s move to Singapore, W+K chief executive partner David Kearney (pictured) proclaimed, “reflects the global nature of the insurance industry and the importance of Singapore as a regional insurance hub”.
“Our growth has always been client-driven, and we know that an expanded Asian offering will make us a better business partner for our insurer clients which provide insurance to businesses across the region,” he said.
Adam Chylek, who heads up the BigLaw firm’s property, energy, and infrastructure practice, added that Singapore is a key jurisdiction in the global insurance network and “is turning out to be the glue between the London/European insurance markets and Australia”.
“All of the significant international insurers and reinsurers have a base in Singapore, and many of them are our established clients, so it makes sense for us to invest heavily in the region,” he explained.
“I think we’re the first major Australian insurance law firm to head from Australia and invest in Asia; the traffic is normally the other way around, with London insurance firms heading south.’’
“I am genuinely excited about partnering with what is unquestionably the number one team in the Singapore insurance market and what that means for the breadth of legal services Wotton + Kearney will be able to deliver across the region. And we are committed to looking at further international moves at the right time,” Chylek submitted.
W+K currently has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. Since its foundation in 2002, it has grown to a 76-strong partnership with over 360 lawyers across its offices.
The firm’s revenue, it said in a statement, has grown by 71.6 per cent from FY20 to FY23.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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