Melbourne, Australia

Pinsent Masons has made its first leadership change in Australia since its launch and expansion there in 2015.

Melbourne office head Matthew Croagh will now also be head of Australia, taking over from predecessor David Rennick. Croagh leads a newly formed Australia management team with partners Adrienne Parker and Sadie Andrew, who head Pinsent Masons' offices in Perth and Sydney, respectively.

Croagh and Parker both joined Pinsent Masons in 2017 as part of a four-partner construction and engineering team from Norton Rose Fulbright, months after the latter firm announced its merger with Henry Davis York. Croagh joined in Melbourne while Parker helped the firm launch a new office in Perth.

Croagh focuses on construction and engineering disputes arising out of projects, particularly liquefied natural gas projects; while Parker specialises in the procurement and management process of projects.

Andrew also specialises in disputes and avoidance advice in relation to large construction and engineering projects. She is a Pinsent Masons lifer, joining the firm in the U.K. in 1998 and relocating to Sydney from Singapore in 2016. She made partner the following year.

Rennick will remain a partner at Pinsent Masons and continue to be involved in the development and delivery of the firm's strategy as part of its global board, as its sole member based in the Asia-Pacific region. He will also remain a member of the Asia-Pacific operations committee, which also consists of Asia head Ian Laing in Singapore, joint Beijing head Helena Chen, and transactional services head Andrew Masraf and global energy sector head Paul Rice, both based in London. Laing chairs the committee.

Rennick said in a statement that he is "proud to hand over the day-to-day leadership of a fully-established and sustainable business" to the three-partner leadership team, adding that the change "reflects the growth and geographical diversity of the business, and will enable Pinsent Masons to flourish in Australia in the years to come".

He helped launch and lead Pinsent Masons' five-partner Australia practice in 2015, with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. Since then, the firm has more than tripled its partner count to 18 partners and added an office in Perth. Recent partner hires include corporate partner Brian Scott in Perth from Herbert Smith Freehills, and banking and finance partner Jeremy King in Melbourne from Australian firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Pinsent Masons now has more than 50 lawyers across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The firm will continue to grow in Australia, said Croagh, and is aiming to grow to 30 partners within five years, focusing on Pinsent Masons' expertise in energy and infrastructure.

It is this "laser-like focus" on energy and infrastructure that helped Pinsent Masons attract lawyers and grow in the competitive Australian legal market, said Rennick. "We didn't try to do everything," he said. "We do what the firm is known for."

Another reason for the growth is that the Australia practice is "very much part of 'one firm' from a structure point of view", Rennick added, pointing to Pinsent Masons' single profit pool across all offices globally. "It helps foster a collaborative culture," he said.

In 2017, Pinsent Masons launched its flexible lawyering service Vario in Australia – its first move outside the U.K.

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Pinsent Masons to Launch Flexible Lawyering Service Vario in Australia