Leading national independent Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and premier independent South Australian law firm Kelly & Co Lawyers have announced that the partners and staff of Kelly & Co propose to join HWL Ebsworth to form the foundation of HWL Ebsworth’s new Adelaide office.
Aiming for a 1 July 2014 start date, the fourteen Kelly & Co partners will be joined by their legal and support teams in moving to HWL Ebsworth in a bold shakeup of the South Australian legal market.
HWL Ebsworth’s Adelaide office will initially offer clients expertise in Banking & Financial Services, Commercial and M&A, Energy & Resources, Infrastructure & Construction, Insolvency & Recoveries, Intellectual Property & Information Technology, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Media & Entertainment, Property, Taxation, Trade Practices and Workplace Relations & Safety. Kelly & Co’s existing extensive client base includes South Australian and national organisations, national and international corporates, banking institutions and government departments.
Juan Martinez, HWL Ebsworth Managing Partner, said “a physical presence in South Australia has become increasingly important for HWL Ebsworth as a leading independent national law firm. A significant number of our clients have an interest or presence in South Australia and this
office launch is consistent with our strategy of partnering with our clients in all legal areas of importance to them in all regions of Australia”.
“We will look to further expand the Adelaide offering in the coming months to ensure that we can offer our clients access to market leading experts in
areas of practice additional to those currently serviced by Kelly & Co” said Martinez.
Jamie Restas, Chairman of Partners of Kelly & Co, said “While Kelly & Co has been a fiercely independent South Australian firm for 97 years, we believe that joining HWL Ebsworth will allow us to offer our clients access to a broader range of high quality legal services across the east and west coasts of Australia, with excellence of service and value paramount. We will also continue to service our South Australian clients in the manner that has seen our firm become the local market leader. This opportunity will give us, and our clients, the best of both worlds.”
The decision by Kelly & Co to join HWL Ebsworth, which is subject to regulatory approval, will create a fully integrated national firm which will comprise 905 staff including: 187 Partners, 425 other legal staff and 293 support staff across offices in seven locations – Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Norwest (North West Sydney), Perth and Sydney.