Keel, who specialises in financial services dispute resolution, said he was pleased to join a firm where the focus is quickly resolving, not escalating, conflicts.

“The past few years have seen a significant shift in the legal landscape, requiring a new approach to dispute resolution,” said Keel.

“Clients rightly expect their lawyers, particularly partners, to take more of a 'whole-of-business' approach, to deal with them personally, and to provide them with value for money. This type of approach is inherent to the way Maddocks operates, making it well positioned to respond to these changing demands."

Lucas has extensive dispute resolution experience and also provides advice on reputation management and social media risk management, having co-authored a guide to legal risk management, Reputation Matters, with Keel.

"Maddocks offers the opportunity to work more collaboratively with clients to cost effectively resolve disputes," said Lucas.

“Peter and Norman have almost 45 years' combined experience in complex commercial litigation, fraud-related litigation and dispute resolution for corporate and government clients,” said Maddocks' CEO David Rennick.

Their clients have included CBA, Sydney Water, Roads & Maritime Services, Lehman Brothers, Brookfield and Dell Computers.