HFW has achieved its strongest financial performance in Australia to date, increasing its revenue by more than 33 per cent, to $57.3 million in the financial year ending 31 March 2024 (FY2023–24).

These results, according to the firm, are due to its expertise across aerospace, commodities, construction, energy, insurance and shipping and have been achieved in what is the second year of HFW’s global growth strategy, which includes doubling the size of its Australia business by 2026.

HFW has hired eight new partners since the beginning of FY23–24 across its offices in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

In March, the firm promoted four new partners and one new legal director. This came after the addition of a partner from Clyde & Co, as well as a team of seven, in January this year after the firm nabbed five partners from fellow BigLaw practice MinterEllison, as well as a team of 15 lawyers in late November last year as it moved to bolster its regional offerings in corporate, projects, regulatory, and restructuring.

HFW managing partner in Australia Gavin Vallely said the firm has achieved “strong revenue growth” across all three of its Australia offices and “is the firm’s strongest financial performance for the second year in a row, both in Australia and globally”.

“That performance reflects how the firm’s core sectors align strongly with key drivers of the Australian economy and our ambitious strategy and commitment to enhancing our client offering, attracting and retaining the best talent, and delivering the best results for our clients.

“HFW was one of the first international law firms to enter Australia, and we remain focused on growing our Australian business. We have more than doubled the size of our Australia business since FY15, and in the last eight months alone, we have had substantial growth with high-profile partner and team hires across our three offices. There remains plenty of scope for growth, and we will continue to look for opportunities to increase the depth and breadth of our capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our clients,” he said.

“Australia is an important market for our clients and our firm, with our Australia team regularly working with clients on cross-border matters across more than thirty jurisdictions. We are continuing to invest in Australia as well as in the wider Asia-Pacific region, which is the fastest-growing area of our global network.”

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The firm also achieved another record year across its international network in FY23–24, with global revenue increasing by more than 11 per cent, to £251 million in the financial year ending 31 March 2024 – something which global senior partner Giles Kavanagh said the firm was particularly pleased about.

“We are obviously very pleased with the firm’s continued performance in FY24, having once again achieved new highs in every metric that we measure, including revenue and profit. Passing £250 million in revenue was another significant milestone in our continued growth as a firm,” he said.

“While we’ve undergone significant expansion over recent years, we’ve been careful to keep a tight focus on our core sectors and to maintain our ‘one firm’ approach, which is an important part of our culture at HFW. Our growth really is all about our clients and adding top-quality capability in services and locations that make sense for them, and that will enable us to provide them with a better, more rounded offering.

“It’s been a very positive few years, but we see a lot of potential for further growth as we seek to establish HFW as the world’s number one sector-focused law firm. We’re just getting started.”

HFW managing partner Jeremy Shebson added that moving forward, the firm would only continue to grow.

“This was another very encouraging year for HFW, with strong performances in each of our groups and across our international network. That reflects the continued trust of our clients in our deep sector expertise – which remains core to our strategy and we believe differentiates us in an increasingly crowded legal market – as well as the hard work and dedication of the extremely talented lawyers and business services professionals that we’re fortunate to have at HFW,” he said.

“We’ve welcomed some outstanding additions in recent years, and we feel like we’re really starting to build some momentum. Our intention now is to ramp things up and aggressively target partners, teams, and even bolt-on acquisitions that align with our strategy and culture. If you have a leading practice in one of our core sectors, anywhere in the world, and want to join a true partnership that operates as one firm globally, come and talk to us.”

Lauren Croft

Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.