Thomson Geer will take over Ashurst’s Commonwealth Government practice from July, including the office, files and the staff.

The team joining Thomson Geer includes seven partners – Rob Andersen, Mathew Baldwin, Melanie McKean, Steve McKinney, Sarah Ross-Smith, Elissa Speight and Angela Summersby, as well as between 50 and 60 lawyers and legal support staff, according to Ashurst and Thomson Geer.

The shuttering of the Canberra office is a result of Ashurst stepping back from their servicing the Commonwealth Government under the Whole of Australia Government Legal Services Panel (WoAG), which the Canberra office was primarily focused on.

Both firms are working closely with their Commonwealth clients to ensure an easy transition and have an amicable arrangement in place, according to Ashurst.

Thomson Geer bolstering government practice

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Thomson Geer has been growing its state government practices in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, but wasn't working with the federal government until now. According to the firm, it is committed to “high quality diversification” which drew the firm to Ashurst’s “market leading practice in Canberra.”

The firm currently has a small private sector office in Canberra, which it confirmed doesn’t do public sector work. In November last year, the firm was appointed to the Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel across all fields of law, making it one of nine law firms in Australia to be appointed across the entire panel.

Ashurst’s government practice in Canberra is one of the highest ranking government practices, in addition to Clayton Utz and MinterEllison. Thomson Geer now takes Ashurst’s place and will continue to grow their government offerings moving forward, according to chief executive partner Adrian Tembel.

"Ashurst has built an outstanding Commonwealth Government legal practice. I congratulate them on what they have created. We will build on their success and invest further to ensure that this practice continues to be the 'go to' team for complex Commonwealth Government legal work across all areas of the Whole of Australian Government legal services panel. We look forward to welcoming the excellent lawyers at all levels of the Ashurst Canberra team to Thomson Geer,” he said.

"This move reflects the next stage of ongoing evolution of the Australian legal services market."

Ashurst staff will be offered the same salary and benefits packages should they decide to accept roles with Thomson Geer.

Thomson Geer has more than 750 people, including more than 150 partners, operating out of offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.

Since February last year, the firm has added 59 staff to its ranks through the taking of teams from rival firms. Last month, a former Hogan Lovells partner and team of two joined after Hogan Lovells’ exit from the Australian market. Late last year, the firm took two teams from Clyde & Co: a construction partner and a financial services regulatory partner and around 14 lawyers.

That news followed the appointment of a technology and cyber team of nine, including two partners from national rival HopgoodGanim in December, the taking of an employment team from KPMG Law in October, its merger with Tottle Partners in Perth in May as well as the addition of teams from Holding Redlich and Gadens back in February last year.

The firm also promoted 50 professionals in early July.

Ashurst focusing on other growth areas, "strategic priorities"

Ashurst head of region for Australia Lea Constantine said the move to decrease its Commonwealth panel work was a “consequence of a review of our strategic priorities”.

"Ashurst has decided to wind down its work for the Commonwealth under one of its panel arrangements. Once we reached this decision, we were pleased to connect with Thomson Geer, a major Australian law firm that has a commitment to high quality and cultural standards,” she said.

“This will ensure the Commonwealth Government will continue to receive the very best legal advice and services, as they have come to expect from our Canberra team. Meanwhile, we are confident that all our people moving to Thomson Geer will continue to have the very best career opportunities."

"We thank Thomson Geer for working collaboratively and professionally with us on this transition. We also thank our Canberra colleagues for their many years of hard work and dedication to our firm. They leave with our best wishes and our full support to continue their outstanding work for the Commonwealth Government."

This news comes after Ashurst promoted 20 partners globally, including three in Australia, last month. In recent months, Ashurst has also added five risk advisory partners to its ranks (two in February and three in October) and named a new BD chief in November.

This comes as client demand for integrated legal and risk advice grows. ARA was established in 2020 and now has 23 partners globally (19 in Australia, three in the UK, and one in the Middle East), posting revenue growth close to 50 per cent globally year on year, according to the firm.

While the firm will still work with its Commonwealth Government clients on other matters, an Ashurst spokesperson said the firm would be completely winding down it’s work on the panel, in what Lawyers Weekly understands to be a commercially-driven decision as this type of work potentially becomes less viable for top-tier firms.

"Ashurst has made the decision to wind down its work for the Commonwealth Government under the Whole of Australia Government Legal Services Panel (WoAG). This will be managed in an orderly way, with clients being asked to consent to the transition of Ashurst Canberra partners' matters to Thomson Geer.

“Ashurst will continue to provide services to the Commonwealth Government in relation to mandates which sit outside of the WoAG panel arrangements. Our work for state governments is not affected by these changes and will continue."

In August last year, the Australian Financial Review reported that a number of Australia’s biggest law firms remained in negotiations for a place on the WoAG panel, reportedly due to price bargaining. While securing government panel appointments offer a reliable source of work for firms, many top-tier firms offer discounted fees for the government, some reducing their rate by up to 40 per cent.

As at 19 August 2024, Ashurst was appointed to five of the six divisions on the panel, with Thomson Geer appointed to all six divisions.

This came after Former AG Mark Dreyfus wrote to the federal government’s Legal Services Panel members in late 2023 to flag that steps were being taken to “further incentivise” the meeting of the National Pro Bono Target of 35 hours of pro bono work, annually, per lawyer – and encouraged firms hoping to secure a spot on the panel to meet their pro bono targets.

“I strongly encourage all firms to meet the Target ahead of any further changes,” he wrote at the time.

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