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Pinsent Masons takes special counsel from 2 global rivals
Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has further enhanced its presence in Australia by appointing two special counsel from DLA Piper and Norton Rose Fulbright.
Grace Robbie
Madison Smith and Matthew Thornton-Dibb (both pictured) have joined Pinsent Masons as special counsel in its Sydney office.
Smith, who will be joining the corporate team, comes across from global firm DLA Piper, where she held the position of senior associate for more than a year.
The multinational law firm has indicated that Smith possesses extensive experience in advising on both public and private mergers and acquisitions across a diverse range of sectors, including energy and resources, infrastructure, and technology.
Additionally, her experience encompasses private equity, cross-border transactions and foreign investment.
Thornton-Dibb, who will join the planning and environment team, has moved over from global firm Norton Rose Fulbright, where he served as special counsel for over a year.
According to Pinsent Masons, Thornton-Dibb specialises in environmental, regulatory and planning matters, advising clients across various industries such as energy, mining, construction, and industrial sectors.
Thornton-Dibb also brings significant experience in “incident response and management of contaminated land, energy transition projects, biodiversity and carbon offset programs, and carbon credits”.
Matthew Croagh, partner and head of Pinsent Masons’ Australia division, expressed that these two appointments are part of the multinational law firm’s strategy to enhance its senior talent pool within its primary practice areas.
“An important part of our current strategy is to continue to build senior depth in key practice areas, such as corporate and planning and environment, and Madison and Matthew certainly fit in well with that goal,” Croagh said.
“They also bring great experience and expertise in some of our key focus sectors, such as energy, resources and infrastructure, as well as other sectors in which we are building a strong reputation in, including the technology, banking and finance, and healthcare sectors.”
The news follows the firm appointing a partner and special counsel from DLA Piper for its corporate practice in late October, hiring of a TMT special counsel from MinterEllison in August, its taking of a team of eight from KPMG Law to launch its TMT practice in March, the firm’s launching of a work health and safety practice in Australia with a team from Sparke Helmore in February.
