Corrs partner and CEO John Denton congratulated the new partners and said: "The promotions recognise our new partners for the consistent excellence of their work and the outstanding results they achieve for their clients.

"As the firm embarks on its 2015 strategy of service innovation and targeted growth, we are committed to developing and promoting outstanding lawyers such as Bruce, Joe, Spencer and Jeremy to the partnership."

Corrs said the appointments reflect the firm's ongoing investment in the areas of corporate M&A, energy and resources, infrastructure and dispute resolution and that the firm plans to increase its headcount by at least a third in the next five years, with a combination of internal promotions and lateral recruits.

Brisbane-based partner Adkins specialises in mining, oil and gas, transport, infrastructure and major projects, with particular expertise in non-regulated M&A (asset sales and sales of non-listed companies) and the development of new rail infrastructure.

Based in Melbourne in the construction team, Barbaro specialises in building and construction law, major projects and engineering and construction related dispute resolution in the mining, oil and gas, transport, infrastructure and major projects sectors.

As part of the construction team in Perth, Flay is a dispute resolution lawyer with broad ranging experience across construction and energy and resources disputes, including large civil and mining construction projects.

In the corporate advisory team in Brisbane, Horwood acts in public takeovers and schemes of arrangement, IPOs and other equity capital markets advice (including rights issues and placements), private share and business sales (including private equity transactions), ASX Listing Rules advice and corporate governance. He has more than 10 years' experience in Australia and the UK.