McDougall had been a senior counsel at Pigott Stinson for seven years. Prior to that, he was the head of legal at the Australian branch of French bank Société Générale.

The senior lawyer specialises in asset-based finance, equipment leasing, corporate lending, secured transactions and treasury.

Commenting on his appointment, McDougall said he was attracted to Keypoint’s “client-friendly business model”.

Keypoint, the Australian arm of UK firm Keystone Law, does not have billable hour targets and offers fee earners the chance to pocket 70 per cent of the fees they generate from clients.

The firm recently poached another special counsel from HWL Ebsworth to launch its new government practice in Canberra.