King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has hired its first dedicated employment partner in Brisbane with the addition of Allens' national practice head Jamie Wells.

The firm, which last year refurbished its Brisbane office, now has a total of 14 partners in the city, covering employment, M&A, disputes, projects and real estate.

The addition of Wells is KWM's third partner appointment in Brisbane in the last two years following the hire of infrastructure expert Scott Singleton from Minter Ellison in 2012, the relocation of finance partner Paul McBride from Hong Kong in January and the promotion of disputes lawyer Emma Costello in July.

Wells, who previously worked for Allens for more than 13 years specialising in government privatisation projects and industrial-sector companies, brings the total number of KWM employment partners in Australia to six; the others based across Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Canberra.

Allens Brisbane office has seen a number of partners exit recently, with competition partner Jo Daniels moving to Baker & McKenzie in July and Ren Niemann to local firm McCullough Robertson in the same month.

However, in emails to Legal Week, the big six firm said the practice would "continue to play a key strategic role for the firm"; that it had made up three new partners in Brisbane in the last 12 months and that it had also recently signed up to rent space in Brisbane's newest office building on 480 Queen Street.

Despite some reports of a bleaker economic outlook in the last year, Brisbane, alongside Perth, continues to represent an attractive proposition for both international and domestic law firms given the vast number of regional energy and natural resources projects.

New entrants to the market this year include UK firm Clyde & Co, which launched last month, and US giant Baker & McKenzie, which opened in in July, both with the aim of boosting energy and infrastructure deals.