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Sparke Helmore appoints special counsel from Minters
Following the recent promotion of a lawyer to special counsel, Sparke Helmore has appointed another special counsel, this time from a BigLaw firm competitor.
Grace Robbie
Sparke Helmore has named Nick Ferguson (pictured) the national law firm’s new special counsel for its planning, environment, and local government team and will be based in its Sydney office.
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Ferguson has joined from BigLaw firm MinterEllison, where he worked as a lawyer specialising in environment and planning for more than four years.
The national law firm expressed that Ferguson specialised in “environmental and planning litigation, advising on development and approval strategies, compliance with environmental law and mining and resources legislation, remediation of contaminated land, and biodiversity and offsetting obligations”.
With 16 years of experience, he also brings expertise in “compulsory land acquisition law and compensation and advises a variety of government and private clients on complex compulsory acquisition claims, and strategies to acquire land”.
Ferguson graduated from the University of Technology with a bachelor of laws and then completed a bachelor of architecture at UNSW.
He also previously worked as a law clerk and planning and environment lawyer at global law firm Dentons, was employed as an environment and planning lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin, and served the same position at BigLaw firm Ashurst.
The news follows the firm’s promotion of a commercial insurance practice to special counsel at the beginning of the month, promoting five to partner and 32 to senior positions in July, hiring Simon Lewis and Alice Chen within the firm’s projects and government commercial practice group in May, the firm’s taking of a team of five lawyers, including partner Janette McLennan from Clyde & Co that same month, the hiring of Sheldon Garcia, formerly a partner at BigLaw rival HWL Ebsworth, as a new partner in the group in mid-April, and the addition of three, including partner Marie-Clare Elder, in February.
