Snapping up Goodridge from Clayton Utz’s Perth office, where he is general manager, Thomson Playford identified him as a “strong leader who would steer the firm through the next phase of its national expansion”.

With experience at Mallesons Stephen Jaques and both public and private service organisations, as well as in senior roles in the financial services and investment banking sector, Goodridge will take up his position on the 24th January this year.

He replaces current chief executive Juliet Brown, who has helped lay the foundations for the firm’s future growth since her appointment in 1999. “Under her leadership, Thomson Playford has enjoyed outstanding success and established offices in Sydney and Melbourne,” acting chairman of partners David Gaszner said.

The new top appointment coincides with the expansion of the Sydney office, with the addition of a specialist corporate legal team from Sydney firm Ebsworth & Ebsworth. The new partners, Lyn Nicholson and Ian Reid, and technology lawyer Margaret Calvert as consultant add to the firm’s commercial expertise, Gaszner said.

The move is the latest in a string of acquisitions by the firm. In July 2004, three senior associates and two solicitors — formerly comprising the entire Industrial Relations & Hospitalist and Gaming practice of Acuiti Legal — stepped into new roles at Thomson Playford.

An “ever increasing demand” from clients, particularly along the eastern seaboard, has been the trigger for the firm’s plans for future expansion, said Gaszner.