Prescott had been a partner at HopgoodGanim for four-and-a-half years. He has broad experience in complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution, including cross-border proceedings in the energy & resources sector.

Prior to HopgoodGanim, Prescott was a managing associate at Linklaters in London.

The appointment follows the exit of several senior figures from DLA.

Lawyers Weekly exclusively revealed on 24 June that DLA partners Steven Casper and Richard Moshinsky had left the firm to join the Melbourne boutique SBA Law.

That same day, Meridian Lawyers announced that it had nabbed DLA insurance partner Robert Crittenden, who is based in Sydney.

In Melbourne, DLA lost corporate partner Adrian Smith to McCullough Robertson in June and its Melbourne managing partner Peter Monk to start-up firm Hive Legal in May.

Norman Abrams, the head of DLA Piper’s government litigation group in Melbourne, also left the firm in May to join Moray & Agnew.

DLA has, however, made senior lateral hires this year. They include Peter Jones, the former head of technology, media and telecommunications at Gilbert + Tobin, and cross-border insolvency expert Kon Tsiakis from HWL Ebsworth.