2011 has been a time of change and uncertainty. As Europe continues to fight off_x001E_ an ongoing debt crisis and global firms continue their Australian onslaught, the Australian legal market has witnessed a number of major lateral partner moves. Lawyers Weekly presents its Top 25 movers & shakers of the year.

Name: Tony Conaghan

Firm left: DLA Phillips Fox

Firm joined: Thomsons Lawyers

Location: Brisbane

Tony Conaghan and eight other Brisbane-based DLA Phillips Fox partners defected to Thomsons Lawyers after voting against the integration of DLA Phillips Fox with DLA Piper in May this year. This addition helped Thomsons expand its national reach into Brisbane and, according to Thomsons’ chief executive partner, Adrian Tembel, the new Brisbane office would assist the firm to achieve its $100 million revenue goal. Conaghan, an intellectual property, information technology and franchising lawyer with more than 30 years’ experience, was joined by ex-DLA partners Philip Byrnes, James Daniel, Andrew Kelly, Ron Eames, Michael Marshall, Chris O’Shea, Philip Dowling and Eugene Fung.

Name: John Poulsen

Firm left: Minter Ellison

Firm joined: Squire Sanders

Location: Perth

In August, a global law firm, Squire Sanders, announced it would be entering the Australian legal market in October. No surprises there, given that global law firms are arriving in Australia with the regularity of Shane Warne tweets about Liz Hurley. Squire Sanders then announced it would be taking 14 partners from a top-tier firm. Then we had a news story. As Clayton Utz might wryly comment, it was déjà vu all over again. John Poulsen suddenly went from being the Perth managing partner of Minter Ellison to the Australian managing partner of Squire Sanders, with 13 former partners of Minters joining him. To rub salt into Minters’ wounds, its four remaining partners had to find new digs, with Squire Sanders commencing operations in Minter Ellison’s office. “DLA Piper, Norton Rose, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy had all entered the local market, and it really made us stop and think about not just the current generation at the firm, but also the future generation,” said Poulsen when talking to Lawyers Weekly in August. “That made us think global, not national.”

Name: Melanie McKean

Firm left: DLA Piper

Firm joined: HWL Ebsworth

Location: Canberra

The defection of Melanie McKean with an additional five partners from DLA Piper in Canberra almost brought to an end the global firm’s presence in the capital. McKean, Richard Garnett, Lex Holcombe, George Marques, Michael Will and Stuart Imrie all left DLA Piper shortly after its formal integration to join HWL Ebsworth, which established an office in Canberra in August. The client list of the departing six partners included the Australian Federal Police, Department of Finance and Deregulation, Housing Industry Association, Medicare Australia, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and Australian Taxation Office. McKean counted the Department of Defence as a key client. In April, Defence Minister Stephen Smith appointed her along with DLA Piper special counsels Dr Gary Rumble and Professor Dennis Pearce to head a review into allegations of sexual and other abuse in the armed forces. Smith later dubbed the report the “DLA Piper” report. But with Pearce and Rumble joining HWL Ebsworth in October, that moniker is now highly questionable.

Name: Mark Keam

Firm left: Piper Alderman

Firm joined: KJK Legal

Location: Adelaide

Long-time Piper Alderman partners Mark Keam, Tracey Kerrigan and Neville John left the national firm this year to start an Adelaide-based workers compensation firm, KJK Legal, on 4 October. KJK Legal was the result of a strategic decision by Pipers to drop its workers compensation practice in favour of a focus on dispute resolution, corporate law, employment relations, and property and projects. “We’ve had an extremely long association [with Pipers] so there’s a fair degree of loyalty between the two firms,” said Keam.

Name: Phil Keays

Firm left: Sparke Helmore

Firm joined: Moray & Agnew

Location: Perth

In March this year, Phil Keays and his insurance team from Sparke Helmore jumped ship to Moray & Agnew, helping the firm to further its national expansion with a new office in Perth. Keays was appointed to head up Moray & Agnew’s new Perth presence, along with his team of five from Sparke Helmore, including consultant Dr Brenda McGivern, special counsel Nicola Frampton, senior associate Tracy Bennett, lawyer Verginia Serdev and graduate lawyer Anna Miolin. With plans to move offices at the end of the year, Moray & Agnew’s Perth practice currently has nine staff on board.