UK law firm raises its construction practice in Australia

UK law firm raises its construction practice in Australia

Homan Fenwick Willan hires Michael Debney as a partner from Herbert Smith Freehills

UK firm Homan Fenwick Willan (HFW) has continued to grow its construction practice in Australia, adding Michael Debney as a partner in Melbourne from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

Carolyn Chudleigh, the global head of construction at HFW, described Debney's experience in front and back-end construction, as well as large-scale projects, as "second-to-none."

She added, "His expertise and focus on major contractors is a great complement to our existing construction practice across Australia. His arrival strengthens our front-end construction offering, where we see a lot of demand from clients from industries including road, rail and port infrastructure, energy and renewable infrastructure and general commercial construction."

Gavin Vallely, the local managing partner at HFW, said the expansion of the construction team was a key element of HFW's growth strategy in Australia. Globally, the construction practice now houses more than 70 lawyers across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Debney joined HFW after three-and-a-half years as a senior associate at HSF's Melbourne office. Prior to that, he spent over a decade in the industry in legal and commercial roles, including a stint as senior counsel for Qatar Railways Company in Doha and as company secretary for rail operator KDR Gold Coast.

His advisory and transactional construction practices span the full projects lifecycle, with a focus on energy, natural resources, industrial plants, transport infrastructure, transport operations and maintenance sectors.

He has worked on projects including the AUS$4bn Sydney Trains Public-Private-Partnership and TasNetworks' AUS$3.5bn Marinus Link subsea interconnector.

HFW had boosted its construction team in Sydney with the addition of construction disputes partner Jo Delaney from Baker McKenzie. Later, it hired a five-member construction team from Australian law firm Colin Biggers & Paisley.

HFW saw profit per equity partner jump 30 per cent for the 2020-21 financial year to reach £683,000, while the revenue rose 2.6 per cent to hit the £200m mark for the first time. The firm's Australian offices now account for 10 per cent of its total annual revenue. It makes HFW the third-largest market globally after London and Hong Kong.