RollOnFriday has heard that Clifford Chance is planning to open its first Australian office. Insiders say that it's due to launch in Sydney in September.
Of course these could just be rumours: but as the firm would not comment on it then, technically, it's an absolutely definite fact. When Allen & Overy launched in Australia earlier this year it seemed unlikely that it would be the last UK firm to set up shop. In an article in February, Mark Pistilli, a partner at Chang, Pistilli and Simmons, warned that other international firms would "come in and poach the guts out of" the big local firms. "They can take the profitable parts, leave the less profitable sectors behind and you've also got lower overheads - no need to rent ten floors of Governor Phillips Tower".
It's not clear where CC might nab all its partners. However one source suggests that it might be mounting an Allen & Overy-type raid on, err, Allen & Overy. Which would be pleasingly ironic, albeit probably unlikely given that A&O's partners have only been there a matter of weeks since leaving Clayton Utz. More likely rumours are of an assault on Corrs.
Whether or not this particular story comes to fruition, the attention being paid to Australia by international firms is worrying news for the big Sydney firms. The launch of one big name may be seen as an anomaly, but two looks like the start of a a trend...
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Tip Off ROF
Of course these could just be rumours: but as the firm would not comment on it then, technically, it's an absolutely definite fact. When Allen & Overy launched in Australia earlier this year it seemed unlikely that it would be the last UK firm to set up shop. In an article in February, Mark Pistilli, a partner at Chang, Pistilli and Simmons, warned that other international firms would "come in and poach the guts out of" the big local firms. "They can take the profitable parts, leave the less profitable sectors behind and you've also got lower overheads - no need to rent ten floors of Governor Phillips Tower".
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Some partners being poached yesterday |
It's not clear where CC might nab all its partners. However one source suggests that it might be mounting an Allen & Overy-type raid on, err, Allen & Overy. Which would be pleasingly ironic, albeit probably unlikely given that A&O's partners have only been there a matter of weeks since leaving Clayton Utz. More likely rumours are of an assault on Corrs.
Whether or not this particular story comes to fruition, the attention being paid to Australia by international firms is worrying news for the big Sydney firms. The launch of one big name may be seen as an anomaly, but two looks like the start of a a trend...
Readers with more information can click here to share it.