Fior has more than 11 years’ experience acting on construction, property and major projects matters on behalf of government and corporate clients.

His expertise spans the engagement of contractors and consultants; diverse agreements and contracts; risk management and the development of incentive pricing mechanisms, as well as negotiation and project management. He is also experienced in Commonwealth procurement requirements. He recently acted for the Project Consortium in respect to the $1.2 billion Canberra Technology City project.

John Poulsen, Squires’ managing partner in Australia, said: “We are continuing to expand our construction, projects and infrastructure practice in Australia and it is exciting to attract someone of Fabio’s calibre to our team.

“Fabio has a reputation for advising on some of the country’s major public infrastructure projects and urban redevelopment initiatives, which complements the track record of our team.”

Fior, who originally hails from the Northern Territory, said: “I am delighted to join Squire Sanders and to have the opportunity to return to Darwin, working alongside a top-flight team. I’m looking forward to continuing to support our local clients and those active at a national and international level.”

Office raider

Fior is not the first partner Squires has nabbed from Minters – the firm established its first Australia office in Perth in October 2011 by poaching 14 partners from Minters’ Perth office.

Last November, litigation and major projects partner, and the foundation partner of Minters’ Darwin office, Cris Cureton, joined the firm and now leads Squires’ Darwin practice.

Commenting on Fior’s appointment, Cureton said: “Fabio is a welcome addition to our team in Darwin. We are experiencing increasing demand from clients in the local market seeking construction and projects-related advice. With Fabio’s arrival we are now ideally placed to satisfy their requirements from both a contentious and non-contentious perspective.”

In May, Squires also poached construction partner Avendra Singh from Colin Biggers & Paisley and, a few weeks earlier, project finance specialist Josh Clarke arrived at the firm from Watson Farley & Williams