At McCullough Robertson, IP lawyer Belinda Breakspear, corporate and commercial lawyer Louise Horrocks and finance lawyer Kirby Jukes, who all began their career at the firm in junior positions, have been made partner.

"McCullough Robertson is all about relationships," said Louise Ferris, HR director at McCullough Robertson.

"While we recognise the value of bringing in fresh talent and do so often, there’s no substitute for the level of connection that can be achieved with our clients and our people that home-grown talent provides."

McCullough Robertson also promoted four lawyers to special counsel and nine to senior associate.

MacDonnells Law also appointed three to partnership, as well as two to special counsel, signalling a record number of top-level promotions in the firms’ 132-year history.

Senior associates Joanne Parisi, Melissa Sinopoli and Miranda Gillespie, all who commenced their legal careers with MacDonnells Law as university graduates were promoted to partner.

“MacDonnells Law is proud of it's ability to provide depth and experience by offering our clients an array of practitioners such as Joanne, Melissa [and] Miranda who have strong expertise in specific and niche areas of law, combined with industry knowledge and a down to earth approach,” said Sheree Parlapiano, general manager of MacDonnells Law.

Meanwhile, Russell Kennedy promoted four to partnership, the largest number of internal partner promotions at the firm in a number of years.

Andrea Stefanesco, Darren Seidl and Matthew Stockdale have all been promoted to partner in Russell Kennedy’s WorkCover practice, while Donna Rayner has been promoted to partner in the property and development practice.

The firm made a further nine internal promotions across key growth areas for the firm.

"These lawyers represent the future of Russell Kennedy and will play an integral role in making the partnership stronger and achieving our firm’s vision," said Paul Gleeson, Russell Kennedy’s managing director.

"We congratulate each and every one of them on their promotion and look forward to the continued growth in their careers."

Gadens promoted a total of 11 lawyers to its partnership across the country in a range of practice areas.

Joseph Shaw, Kimberley Arden, Natasha Hood, Peter Coggins and Victor Asoyo all joined the partnership in Brisbane, while Marcus Graham, Chi Chau and Ourania Konstantinidis joined the partnership Sydney.

In Perth, Hector West was promoted to partner, as was Nicholas McKenzie-McHarg in Melbourne and Vince Mascolo in Adelaide.

The firm also promoted six to special counsel and four to directors.

"You can’t stand still in 2016 – our promotions demonstrate the firm's ongoing growth and reinvention in the new economy and our commitment to the local market," said Paul Spiro, Gadens’ Brisbane chairman.

"The Brisbane office has an outstanding and diverse next generation of leaders and this is our largest injection into partnership ranks in many years."