The profile section contains a list of companies that have completed business profiles in The Legal 500. If you want to work in a law firm in Australia, there are many things you should do. You should first complete your legal training and then apply for internships at various law firms to get an idea of what it is. According to the 2018 National Lawyer Profile published by the Law Society of NSW, there were 18,748 private law firms in Australia. The profile also revealed that there were 76,303 practising lawyers in Australia as of October 2018. After these major changes in the Australian legal scene, the term Big Six is less used, and leading law firms are now the preferred descriptor of the largest and most profitable law firms in Australia. [8] [13] Some of these predecessor companies were also leaders in the Asia-Pacific region in general. In 2007, Arthur Robinson of Allen, Clayton Utz, Freehills and Stephen Jaques of Malleson were the top five companies in Asia Pacific in terms of mergers and acquisitions, ahead of Magic Circle`s Linklaters. [17] The most prestigious law firms in Australia are Minter Ellison, Herbert Smith Freehills, Ashurst Australia and Allens. The term Big Six Law Firms referred to the six largest Australian law firms prior to 2012. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In 2012, four companies from other countries merged or established association relationships with companies from other countries (the United Kingdom for three of them, China for one of them). [6] Rodney Chen, MTR`s Senior Legal Counsel for Projects and International Affairs, stated, “MinterEllison has provided a focused and dedicated team from the outset to support the MTR and MTS teams at all stages of the review and analysis, negotiation and finalization of the vast suite of highly complex documents at different levels of the contract chain.” For 2017-2018, Herbert Smith Freehills led the field in Australia with total gross sales of $1,194,645,000.
With offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, HSF Australia is one of the 8 leading law firms in Australia. Interestingly, globally, the firm ranked twenty-ninth in a list that ranked the two hundred largest law firms in the world during that period. Are you ready to discover the top six law firms in Australia based on their income? Although financial details have yet to be officially announced, it has already been reported that the transaction cost $700 million. A representative of Allens said the deal was “one of the most important in the renewable energy sector in recent years.” Since the 2012 changes and due to the expansion of other competing law firms, the Australian legal landscape has been increasingly shaped by the concept of world-class law firms. [7] The top law firms are Allens, Ashurst, Clayton Utz, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Gilbert + Tobin, Herbert Smith Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons and MinterEllison. [8] [9] [10] [11] Corrs is one of Australia`s largest commercial law firms with an extensive network of offices in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. No. Clayton Utz is one of Australia`s largest law firms with six offices across Australia. The company is headquartered in Sydney, but also has offices in Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne and Perth. Update: On January 28, 2020, Australasian Lawyer reported that Allens helped sell what is believed to be Australia`s largest wind farm. The company advised Goldwind to sell a stake in the Stockyard Hill wind farm to Nebras Power Investment Management of Qatar. The six leading law firms in Australia are all well-known and reputable firms in the legal sector.
King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is an international law firm headquartered in Hong Kong. As stated on its website, the firm, which is among the “world`s most innovative law firms,” helps clients take advantage of unexplored opportunities in the Asian market. Overall, the market continues to be dominated by the Big Six, which include Allens, Clayton Utz, Ashurst, Gilbert + Tobin, King & Wood Mallesons and Herbert Smith Freehills – all large companies that combine the strength of the bank with extensive domain expertise. International players such as Baker McKenzie have a strong foothold, particularly in transactional work and the growing technology space, while White & Case and Clifford Chance continue to expand their presence. A number of national companies, including Johnson Winter & Slattery, Minter Ellison and Corrs Chambers Westgarth, are also performing well, often challenging the traditional Big Six for high-profile mandates. Four major Australian law firms are Minter Ellison, Clayton Utz, Ashurst and King & Wood Mallesons. London-based Magic Circle with offices in Australia, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy, are not considered to be part of the same group as leading Australian law firms. The latest report on best-selling law firms was published by The American Lawyer for the period 2017-2018. As we anticipate the 2018-2019 report, in this short article we look at how the Australian law firm legal market is evolving from a global perspective. This provides an easy one-stop shop for business consultants and legal procurement services to gather information about the companies they want to hire. Not far behind HSF was another member of Australia`s 8 major law firms – King & Wood Mallesons.
With gross sales of $1,072,000,000, KWM was not far behind HSF. In the global legal market, KWM ranked thirty-five out of two hundred. Prior to 2012, the following companies were generally considered the Big Six (listed alphabetically):[12] In 2017-18, KWM reported revenue of $1.2 billion. It has been ranked the second largest law firm in Australia by turnover according to the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018 directory of leading law firms. As of 2020[Update], top law firms in Australia (listed alphabetically):[34][35][36][37] MinterEllison MinterEllison is an international law firm recognized as one of the leading law firms in the Asia-Pacific region. Founded in Sydney in 1827, the firm has since expanded into more non-traditional consulting services such as infrastructure consulting, risk and regulation, tax and technology. Allens Allens is a leading international law firm and one of the largest law firms in the Asia-Pacific region. Allen`s was founded in 1822 and has been in an international alliance with Linklaters since May 1, 2012. Following mergers and merger agreements announced in 2012 and 2013, Freehills and Blake Dawson are now part of the UK law firm Silver Circle, while Allens now has an association agreement with a law firm Magic Circle. The largest law firms in Australia are Norton Rose Fulbright, Gilbert + Tobin, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Minter Ellison, Ashurst, Herbert Smith Freehills, Allens, Clayton Utz and King & Wood Mallesons.
Minter-Ellison is one of the largest law firms in Australia with over 500 lawyers in five offices. He has a long history of working for major Australian companies, including ANZ Bank and Telstra. He also has an international practice and regularly works for multinational companies such as Apple and Facebook. Clayton Utz is Australia`s largest law firm, founded in 1961. The company employs more than 1,000 people in its offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is one of the largest international law firms with headquarters in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The firm was established when the British law firm Herbert Smith and the Australian law firm Freehills merged on 1 October 2012. However, it is interesting to note that the average revenue per lawyer of $884,000 per lawyer was higher than that of the top two law firms.
With a fleet of multinational companies making up the list of Australia`s largest public companies by revenue, it`s easy to assume that Australia`s top law firms have these leading firms.