Clyde & Co has hired three insurance partners from Norton Rose Fulbright as it continues to expand in Australia.

Nicole Wearne, Ganga Narayanan, and Mark Attard will join the firm's Melbourne office as partners.

Collectively, the new partners cover a wide range of contentious and noncontentious insurance work, including professional indemnity, Royal Commission and inquiries, and class action defense.

"We have pursued a clear sector-based strategy since joining the Australian market in 2012 with the Insurance industry being a key pillar of that strategy," said Michael Tooma, Clyde & Co's Australia managing partner. "We are delighted to increase our depth in that industry with the addition of such high profile partners."

Partners Wearne and Narayanan had both been at Norton Rose since 2002, while Attard joined in 2015, having previously worked at domestic firm Colin Biggers & Paisley, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Wearne acts principally for local and overseas insurers on professional indemnity, management liability/D&O and class action defense and coverage claims work.

Narayanan acts for local and overseas insurers and also receives instructions directly from corporate clients in the area of life insurance, general liability and health care.

Attard advises in professional indemnity, construction, property, management liability, and general insurance matters as well as policy wording, legislation, risk management, alternative dispute resolution, recoveries, and claim management.

"As the largest insurance law firm in the world, we are now one of the largest in Australia. Attracting partners of this caliber demonstrates the strength of Clyde & Co in this market," Marcus O'Brien, Clyde & Co.s head of insurance in Australia, said in a statement. "Unlike other firms, we have maintained a focus on the insurance sector to support our clients."

The recent hires continue Clyde & Co's growth in Australia, where the firm has grown from four partners in late 2012 to 32 now, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane. It also comes just months after a five-lawyer team left Clyde & Co to join Australian firm Wotton + Kearney in the firm's Perth office.

For Norton Rose, the team move is the latest in a series of Australia defections to Clyde & Co. In October, the firm brought in marine partner Ernie van Buuren, while in 2018 it took on real estate partner Cameron Thomson, cybersecurity partner John Moran, and environmental planning partner Jacinta Studdert in its Sydney office.

A spokesperson for Norton Rose said the firm wishes the departing lawyers well, adding, "We also look forward to other additions to the partnership as we continue to invest in key areas in building a firm for the future."