Nabarro has seen two partners leave its London office including international committee chair Michael Hales, who is joining Australian firm Minter Ellison as a partner in Perth.

Hales, who advises on a broad range of commercial disputes, has been a partner at the firm since 1996 and has a practice which covers banking, corporate, e-commerce, tax, regulatory and fraud disputes.

He oversaw Nabarro's international strategy for a number of years until his departure earlier this month, and also engineered the firm's Singapore launch in 2010 and the addition of Spanish firm Roca Junyent to its European alliance network in January this year.

The firm is currently consulting with partners on Hales' successor as chairman of the international committee, and expects to reach a decision in the coming weeks.

Hales' departure comes after procurement partner Elizabeth Cooper left Nabarro at the end of last month to join a UK boutique specialising in procurement work.

Cooper recently helped Nabarro win a panel appointment for government agency Sport England which saw her appointed to advise on all procurement matters relating to its flagship National Sports Centres, which are being used as training venues for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Meanwhile, Nabarro corporate partner Martin Linnegan left Nabarro in January to set up his own niche practice catering to SMEs. Finnegan, who specialised in advising AIM clients, has launched Causeway Law with former Treasury Solicitor's Department employment litigator Claire Thorogood.