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BigLaw firm Jones Day has added five new partners across its Brisbane and Sydney offices, strengthening its practices in disputes, financial markets and real estate, energy, corporate, and intellectual property.
Spanning the firm’s global disputes, financial markets and real estate, energy, corporate, and intellectual property teams, Jones Day has added five partners to join the firm in Australia, serving clients across a range of domestic and cross-border matters.
Leigh De Jong, Christopher Flynn, Dylan McKimmie, Lance Sacks, and Ken Saurajen will all join Jones Day, coming from BigLaw firms.
McKimmie will be based in the Brisbane office, with his fellow partners joining the firm in Sydney.
With these additions, Jones Day has added 10 lateral partners in 2026 and 18 partners since mid-2024 when it launched a strategic growth plan in Australia.
It’s not the first time Jones Day has poached from large fellow corporations this year, as the firm added a tax partner from EY in August, along with the addition of a major projects and construction partner from Clayton Utz in April, and three partners from Corrs Chambers Westgarth in March.
Since 2024, the firm’s size has increased in Australia from 90 to 120 lawyers across its offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, with the strategy in the country focusing on strengthening core areas where client demand intensifies.
De Jong, who is focused on the financial markets/real estate area, joins following 16 years at Minter Ellison, where he was a partner.
De Jong is a strategic advisor to financiers, borrowers, sponsors, corporates, private equity funds, and sovereign wealth funds on matters relating to real estate and corporate financing transactions.
His recent achievements include advising on more than $10 billion of debt facilities to a global private equity firm, several real estate investment trust (REIT) take-privates in excess of $5 billion, and multiple innovative loan structures.
Flynn joins from Gilbert + Tobin, where he was a partner in the energy, resources and infrastructure team.
Flynn also has experience in complex M&A, project development and cross-border ventures across more than 60 countries, and is ranked by Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific in energy & natural resources.
Sacks is an M&A lawyer, joining the corporate team following 6 years at Baker McKenzie as partner, and holds experience advising on complex mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and capital raisings across technology, financial services, consumer goods and energy.
Saurajen joins as a partner in the intellectual property team, after 12 years as a partner at Clayton Utz following a 10-year stint at Gilbert + Tobin.
A Lawyers Weekly technology partner of the year nominee in 2020, Saurajen has experience advising on complex technology transactions and large-scale technology, infrastructure and engineering projects across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Joining Jones Day in the Brisbane office, McKimmie was appointed as a partner in the global disputes team, following a 15-year tenure as a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright.
McKimmie is a litigation and arbitration lawyer focused on major resource and infrastructure project disputes, commercial and construction disputes, and regulatory litigation in Australia and internationally, holding experience in significant matters before the High Court of Australia where he appeared as counsel.
