Corrs goes for cross hiring, takes six lawyers from MinterEllison

Corrs goes for cross hiring, takes six lawyers from MinterEllison

The Australian law firm hires half a dozen corporate and banking partner group from a rival firm to bolster its corporate and banking practices

Corrs Chambers Westgarth, a leading Australian law firm has added six from the rival firm MinterEllison to bolster its corporate and banking practices. Among those hired include a quartet of private equity specialists and a financing duo.

All the new hires will be based in Corrs' Sydney office and carry with them over seven decades of collective experience of advising clients. They include private equity specialists Ricky Casali, Glen Sauer, Chris Allen and Andrew Hewson. Hewson has moved up the ladder to become a first time partner.

Financing partners switching over from MinterEllison to Corrs include Stewart Robertson and John Mosley.

"Ricky, Glen, Chris and Andrew are well known in the private equity market for their strategic thinking, ability to close deals and generate investment opportunities in conjunction with their clients. They work with many of Australia's leading private equity firms and will be a great addition to our corporate team," Gavin MacLaren, Corrs chief executive, said.

MacLaren added: "Stewart and John have more than two decades of experience advising private equity clients and large financial institutions on complex financings. They are well regarded for their insights and experience across the full spectrum of financing. This team will make a great contribution to the further growth of our private equity and finance practices."

Among Casali's clients at MinterEllison included Adamantem Capital and Affinity Equity Partners, while Sauer advised on deals such as Next Capital's sale of Funlab to TPG and Allen advised on several buyouts including KKR's acquisition of Laser Clinics Australia.

According to Sandy Mak, Corrs head of corporate, the new hires would add further strength to their firm's market-leading corporate team. "With such strong experience in the private equity sector, we are excited about the considerable value they will bring to our clients in this space," Mak added.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth was ranked third in Mergermarket's 2020 Australasia M&A league table, advising on 26 deals valued at a total of $11.2 billion. While in terms of deal value, Corrs stood seven places above MinterEllison, the latter was way ahead in terms of deal volume, as it handled 54 deals that ranked it second in the list behind Herbert Smith Freehills. Corrs was ranked seventh in terms of deal volume.

The latest round of hiring follows Corrs' recent announcement that it had added leading commercial silk Charles Scerri QC as a partner based in Melbourne.