Allen & Overy's (A&O's) senior partner in Australia is to leave the firm in December after four years leading its offices in Sydney and Perth.

Grant Fuzi, a corporate finance partner who launched A&O's Australian venture in 2010 after joining the firm in Sydney from big six outfit Clayton Utz, said he will depart at the end of his first term as Australian head to seek a new challenge outside of law.

A&O has not yet appointed a replacement senior partner for the offices but is expected to hold a vote at the beginning of 2015.

Fuzi's move to A&O was his second time with the firm, after a two year stint in Hong Kong between 2001 and 2003.

Upon joining he brought with him a team of 14 partners from Clayton Utz, while a further three senior lawyers joined from Freehills and JP Morgan.

The two offices in Sydney and Perth opened on March 1 of that year and have since covered a mix of energy, mining, finance, infrastructure, investment funds, M&A, tax and litigation work.

A&O was one of the first UK outfits to enter the Australian market, a decision based on increasing amounts of inbound and outbound investment activity at the time.

Despite the slump in M&A deals, at the end of last year it hired competition partner Peter McDonald from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) to head its national antitrust and competition practice, which followed the recruitment of Corrs Chambers Westgarth (CCW) partner Mark van Brakel in May to boost the litigation team.

However, it is among a number of firms to have been challenged by the downturn in the Australian market, which in 2012 caused many outfits to scale back by way of staff cuts and pay freezes. 

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