Specialising in corporate and finance matters, Lester comes to Allens from UK firm Lovells, where he has been a global partner since 2001 and managing partner of its Tokyo office since 2004. Lester’s practice ranges across corporate and finance areas, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital markets, structured finance and corporate finance.

“[Lester’s] appointment is an exciting one for our Perth office and the entire firm,” said firm chairman, Jim Thynne. “He knows the Perth environment well, having been raised and educated there, he’s a highly-ranked international lawyer in the corporate and finance fields and has proven leadership success.”

Thynne said Allens’ Western Australian practice has grown by 33 per cent to 140 people in the last two years. “We are confident that [Lester] will make a strong contribution to what we expect to be similarly strong growth in the coming years.”

Lester joined Parker & Parker (now Freehills) in Perth in 1992, having completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Western Australia. He accepted a position with Lovells in 1995, working initially in their Hong Kong office before transferring to the Tokyo office and then to the London office. While based in London he was elected to the global equity partnership in 2001, and later transferred to the Tokyo office, subsequently assuming the role of managing partner in 2004.

According to Perth partner Nic Tolé, “the market now requires expertise and experience on a global level. We have a considerable range of experience and depth which will be further strengthened by [Lester’s] international background and leading transactional experience”.

Since 2006, Lester has led teams which completed deals with a transaction value exceeding $51 billion. He has received awards for the transactions he has led, including being named International Dealmaker of the Year at the 2007 ALB Japan Law Awards. He is also fluent in Japanese.