The former head of Minter Ellison's technology practice, Keith Robinson, has joined Freehills to lead its technology and communications practice, along with partner Damien Bailey who joins the firm from Simmons & Simmons in Asia.

Yuban Moodley will join Freehills as executive counsel in October, coming from UK firm CMS Cameron McKenna where he was partner in its technology and sourcing group.

"There's quite a lot of enthusiasm and drive within the firm to take the practice to a higher level," said Robinson, noting that Freehills' investment in the resurgence of IT projects and services outsourcing in financial services and energy and resources was a great career opportunity for him.

Robinson has advised major clients in the technology and telecommunications sectors, including BHP Billiton, on their procurement strategies and major supply contracts, implementation of their online strategies and the operational elements of their major mergers and acquisitions.

With technologies like cloud computing and social media continuing to evolve and mature both in access and diversity, Robinson said the impact on business and their business models would be significant. "The true impact of the National Broadband Network will be really interesting to see not just from a capability perspective but what it then allows businesses to do in terms of utilising the greater bandwidth," he said.

Robinson added that while it is often difficult to stay on top of changes in technology, most of his clients are sophisticated in that regard. "They keep us up to speed on what's happening and how they're looking at applying new technology. Other than that, it's really keeping abreast of it in the press," he said.

"That's the most interesting part: sitting down with clients and figuring out what technology means for them and how they're going to use it. What are the applications? The potential opportunities, potential threats and how they can manage that."

Both Robinson and Bailey will be based in Sydney, while Moodley will operate from Freehills' Brisbane office.