Australia's Minter Ellison has appointed a new chairman, with competition specialist Russell Miller to take on the role.

The Sydney-based partner will replace Gillian Brown, who has held the post since 2006. Brown will return to full-time fee earning as head of finance in the firm's Queensland office.

Miller is one of Australia's leading competition and antitrust lawyers, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005.

Commenting on his new management role, Miller said one of the key priorities for the firm would be to export Australian legal services as well as build on the firm's government advisory skills.

He said: "There is a real opportunity for leading Australian law firms to export their services. With governments around the world driving growth in the economy through various stimulus packages and other initiatives such as massive infrastructure spending, our strength in government advisory work, economic and social infrastructure developments, privatisations and regulatory regimes will be key."

Minter Ellison has around 800 fee earners including 297 partners across eight offices in Australia, two in New Zealand, two in China and one in the London office. The firm is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region by lawyer count.