Jones Day. Photo: John Disney/ALM

Jones Day has been on a tear in Australia. The firm has more than doubled its size since 2014 and now operates out of four offices across the country. It has gone from a headcount of 40 lawyers, including 13 partners in a single office, to about 100 lawyers, including 29 partners, who work out of offices in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.

The growth Down Under is the result of a deliberate recruitment push that sets Jones Day apart from many of its peer global firms in the country, which chose to grow by merging with large local firms. DLA Piper, for example, combined with 700-lawyer alliance firm Phillips Fox in 2011; and K&L Gates merged with 300-lawyer Middletons in 2012.

And the firm has no plans to slow down in lateral hiring. "We'll keep growing and maintain that trajectory," said Sydney-based Chris Ahern, who has been overseeing Jones Day's Australia growth since becoming partner-in-charge of Australia and Japan in 2015.

Ahern said the firm will continue to grow in specific areas, such as intellectual property, which he called "a mainstay of Jones Day", as well as in mergers and acquisitions, and litigation. So far this year, the firm has already recruited former longtime King & Wood Mallesons mergers and acquisitions partner Shannon Finch and former Ashurst intellectual property partner Andrew Rankine, both in Sydney.

And Ahern is open to hires in other practice areas. In May, for example, the firm added an eight-lawyer tax disputes team in Melbourne from top Australian firm Clayton Utz.

"Some might call it strategic, some might call it opportunistic," he said. "If they can make a contribution, we want them."

Ahern is also on the lookout for financial services lawyers, on the back of the 14-month public inquiry into Australia's financial services industry for unethical practices, which ended in February with 76 recommended changes to the industry. There's work regarding regulation as well as from the implementation of these recommendations, he said.

Jones Day entered Australia in 1998, with an office in Sydney. The firm added an office in Perth in 2014, Brisbane in 2016 and Melbourne in 2018. Ahern said there are no plans to open more offices in Australia and the firm will now focus on investing in its existing offices.

Jones Day's investment in Australia comes at an odd time. It is taking place a decade after the last wave of global firms entered and expanded in the country following the 2008 global financial crisis. Norton Rose Fulbright went in with a tie-up with Deacons Australia in 2009, and Allen & Overy launched in Sydney and Perth with lawyers from Clayton Utz. The wave peaked in 2012, when some of Australia's largest firms joined forces with global firms: Allens formed an exclusive alliance with Linklaters, and Freehills and Blake Dawson became part of Herbert Smith Freehills and Ashurst, respectively. The mining boom in the country, fuelled by China's economic growth, also gave birth to the historic combination of China's King & Wood and Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jaques, which created King & Wood Mallesons.

But from there, the market went downhill, as China's growth started to slow and prices of oil and other commodities collapsed in 2014-15. The Australian dollar has devalued significantly against the U.S. dollar since 2014.

Despite the macroeconomic challenges, Ahern said Jones Day's recent Australia growth has been driven largely by client demand.

"There is a tendency by clients to identify firms that can provide excellent services across borders," said Ahern. "They want one firm, not just because it's easier to manage, but also because it's very important to have a firm that is capable of bringing together that globally aligned team."

A global platform also helps attracts talent, Ahern said.

"Jones Day's cross-jurisdictional approach to collaborative client service is one big reason we are here," Melbourne-based partner Niv Tadmore said when he made the jump to Jones Day, after 16 years with Clayton Utz. He brought along seven other lawyers.

Examples that illustrate this point abound. Earlier this year, the Sydney and Brisbane offices were part of Jones Day's 26 multi-office team that advised UPL Ltd., an India-based agrochemicals producer with a footprint in 76 countries, on a $4.2 billion acquisition by U.S. chemicals maker Platform Specialty Products Corp. And in 2017, the Sydney, Perth and Brisbane offices were part of a 19-office team that represented Cardinal Health Inc., an Ohio-based drug distributor with a presence in almost 60 countries, on a $6.1 billion acquisition of Ireland-based medical device maker Medtronic Plc.'s patient monitoring and recovery unit.

While Jones Day continues its recruitment drive, Ahern noted that the firm has suffered only a few significant departures. In fact, since 2014, only a handful of Australia partners left, including real estate and hotels specialist Duane Keighran and construction lawyer Gregory Begaud, both of who went to local firm Colin Biggers & Paisley; former Australia head of projects and infrastructure transactions Bill Napier, who joined the government; and restructuring and insolvency lawyer Philip Hoser, who left to write novels and raise cattle.

"I'm really pleased. We've had very few departures, and very few to competitors," said Ahern. "That shows we've done something right."

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