Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is launching an office in Perth at the start of April, with the hire of former Freehills litigation partner Paul Evans.

Evans, now state solicitor for Western Australia, spent 24 years at the legacy Freehills, leaving in 2011 prior to its merger with Herbert Smith.

At Quinn, he will focus on corporations law and competition litigation.

Quinn managing partner John Quinn said: "We have been trying to convince Paul to join us for the last couple of years. We are glad he finally did.

"Perth is the centre of the Australian mining and commodities business – industries in which Australia leads the world. There is a lot of demand for arbitration and other disputes work arising from the major projects there."

The new office will be the firm's second base in Australia, after it launched in Sydney in 2013 with the hire of Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) litigation partners Michael Mills and Michelle Fox.

Since the beginning of 2016, Quinn has added six partners in London, including Addleshaw Goddard civil fraud head Mark Hastings and Macfarlanes financial services head David Berman.

Meanwhile in Paris, the firm also hired A&O global arbitration co-head Michael Young and HSF Paris disputes head Isabelle Michou.

However, Quinn recently saw its first lateral City exit when litigator Martin Davies left for Latham & Watkins at the start of this year.