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Global suffers one more partner loss to top-tier rival

A Norton Rose Fulbright partner in Melbourne has announced that he will be moving on to greener pastures in November.

user iconMelissa Coade 28 September 2017 Big Law
Global suffers one more partner loss to top-tier rival
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Peter Bowden will cut loose from NRF to join Gilbert + Tobin’s restructuring and insolvency team in mid-November.

As a partner at NRF, he focused on front-end restructuring work for credit funds and banks. 

According to LinkedIn, Mr Bowden has been a partner with NRF for over a year. He joined the global firm from Clayton Utz in 2016 where he had been working in the restructuring and insolvency group as a senior associate and special counsel for about five years

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In a statement released by the Gilbert + Tobin, managing director Danny Gilbert said the firm was excited to announce Mr Bowden’s recruitment.

“Pete’s recruitment adds further depth and drive that will maintain the team’s position as a leader in the market, as evidenced by its work on restructures such as Emeco, Boart Longyear, Bis Industries, Slater & Gordon, Ten Network and Paladin,” Mr Bowden said.

“As the restructuring market expands, so will the [Gilbert + Tobin] restructuring team.”

Last week Gilbert + Tobin chief operating officer Sam Nickless spoke to Lawyers Weekly about the firm’s lateral hiring strategy. He said that Mr Gilbert had led the strategy over many years and was constantly scoping for talent that can bring a strong practice and reputation to the firm.

“The strategy has been [Danny Gilbert] keeping a close eye on who are the best performers in the market and cultivating that relationships over time,” Mr Nickless said.

“A Gilbert + Tobin partner can’t rely on having just a flow of clients that come from being the ‘house brand’ for a client. They have to forge their own reputation and develop their business based on their own abilities and so you need someone who is willing to do that,” he said.

Unlike other traditional firms, Mr Nickless added that Gilbert + Tobin operated with an entrepreneurial style. He suggested that this environment gave the firm’s partners the freedom to pursue their own practice areas and kept the business agile.

For those who preferred working in the traditional organisational pyramid, the Gilbert + Tobin COO and partner suggested his firm may not be the right fit.

“We like to operate the way in which we manage as a fairly informal and ambiguous kind of organisation. Therefore, our partners need to be comfortable with that,” Mr Nickless said.

“Quite a few [lawyers] have been attracted to us because we keep the bureaucracy as low as we can and our decision making is quite fluid and relatively quick.

“The sort of partner that wants to have a vote on everything and have everything go through committees and run sort of like a bit more bureaucratic organisation – if that’s the sort of thing that they like, they won’t like it here,” he said.

Norton Rose Fulbright has suffered partner losses since the global announced its intention to combine with Henry Davis York earlier this year, including the recent loss of a restructuring and insolvency team.

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