Chicago employment firm Seyfarth Shaw has launched in Australia this week with the hire of eight partners from three firms.

The US outfit took five partners from Herbert Smith Freehills, two from Ashurst and one from Arnold Bloch Leibler, for the opening of offices in Sydney and Melbourne.

Focusing on national and cross-border labour and employment issues in the country, the firm chose lawyers who had previously worked on some of the most sophisticated and complex employment matters in Australia.