She represents, the BigLaw firm said in a statement, financial institutions, listed and multinational companies, funds, directors, insolvency practitioners and investors on a wide range of restructuring, special situations, insolvency, and finance matters.

Higgins also has, the firm continued, expertise in debt restructurings, workouts, and insolvency-related matters, and much of her career has involved complex cross-border mandates.

She will start at Clayton Utz in January and will come across from Jones Day, where she has spent nearly nine years as a partner. Prior to this, she was a partner at Henry Davis York.

The news follows a period of substantial growth for the BigLaw firm. In late August, Clayton Utz took four Canberra-based partners from national rival MinterEllison.

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It also follows the firm’s hiring of a commercial dispute resolution partner from Holding Redlich earlier this month, its appointment of a senior duo from global rival Baker McKenzie in early July and its promotion of 76 lawyers in the same month.

Speaking about the appointment, Clayton Utz partner and restructuring and insolvency practice leader Nicholas Poole said that Higgins joins at a time when formal insolvencies are at record highs, with continued inflationary and interest rate pressures expected to result in the further expansion of private capital into special situation opportunities.

“Katie will bring a wealth of experience to our growing restructuring and insolvency practice. Our team is market-leading, and Katie will strengthen and complement the service we offer clients,” he said.

“Earlier this year, we welcomed Maria O’Brien, a leader in the Asia-Pacific restructuring and insolvency space, to the firm’s partnership. To have Katie now join our team puts Clayton Utz in an even stronger position, with an unrivalled depth of expertise to continue to support our local and international clients.”