Australia's Minter Ellison has launched a non-legal consulting practice focusing on board and executive remuneration with the hire of a team from Willis Towers Watson.

The firm – one of Australia's big six – has recruited a four-strong team from the risk advisory company to head up the new practice, which it intends to double in size during the next three years.

Minter Ellison has made no secret of its intentions to broaden its offering outside of law and already has non-legal consultants in practice areas including IT procurement.

The team is led by Jonathan Finlay (pictured above right), former head of board and executive remuneration at Willis Towers Watson Australia, alongside consultants Angelica Gore, Paul Baillie and Janine Holland (pictured above left to right).

Minter Ellison innovation and networks leader Andrew Cunningham said: "The unifying theme that sits behind the board and executive consulting is looking at where there are gaps in traditional legal practices, which can be filled with people with the right skills."

The firm's CEO Tony Harrington added: "Extending our capability beyond legal services into kindred disciplines is a significant strategic initiative – our new team is a great fit and is the first cab off the rank in our suite of non-legal advisory services for clients."

The firm is actively looking to branch its consulting business into other areas, although Cunningham declined to name any current targets. "I expect that we will be adding to and making announcements about the additions of these types of services," he said.

A number of UK firms have branched out from law to offer consulting services, including RPC – which recently boosted its GC consulting arm RPC Perform with the hire of RBS consultant Varun Srikuma – and Eversheds, which launched Eversheds Consulting in 2010.