Two of the appointees, Elisabeth Ritchie and Grant Hummel, have joined the Sydney office, while Jury Wowk and Grant O’Grady will be working in the firm’s Norwest Business Park premises, north-west of Sydney.

Ritchie’s expertise lies in franchising, where she has acted for franchise systems, master franchisees and area developers. She is due to head the firm’s franchising and licensing cell nationally.

Originally from boutique Sydney firm Baybridge Lawyers, Ritchie brings four of her staff with her to HWL, including two solicitors, and a collection of national and international clients.

“HWL is renowned for its approach to work with clients on a personal basis to achieve their goals in the most direct way possible, and I am excited to join such a dynamic team,” Ritchie said.

“The firm has created a unique culture in the field of commercial law services and it’s going to be great to be a part of that.”

Joining Ritchie in Sydney, Hummel has said goodbye to Gadens, where he was experienced in corporate finance work. His expertise involves providing individually tailored service on capital raisings, securities law, and mergers and acquisitions.

Both Wowk and O’Grady left Doherty Partners to join HWL’s Norwest office.

Wowk specialises in corporate and commercial Law, principally in the sale and purchase of businesses and companies, joint venture arrangements, trust structures, and tax and estate planning, negotiating commercial agreements and litigation for contract and commercial disputes.

Also joining the corporate finance practice, O’Grady is a veteran of commercial and business law, where he specialised in company sales and acquisitions and the sale and purchase of businesses. He also has extensive knowledge in taxation law, particularly in tax planning and tax entity structuring issues.