The new partners are Brisbane lawyer Robert Milbourne, banking and finance lawyer Petar Kuessner, Sydney's Gerard Breen from insolvency and restructuring and Derek La Ferla from corporate finance in Perth.

Milbourne is currently general counsel and company secretary at Vale Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazilian-based multinational Vale - the second largest mining company in the world. He specialises in project finance, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, energy and natural resources, as well as general corporate transactions.

Sydney lawyer, Kuessner, joins Norton Rose from Mallesons Stephen Jaques, having previously spent four years at Freshfields in London.

Kuessner specialises in securitisation, derivatives, structured products and debt capital markets and also has experience in aircraft finance, acquisition and project finance plus general corporate finance transactions.

Norton Rose managing partner, Don Boyd, said in a statement: "Petar is one of the few senior lawyers in Sydney who possess a balance of securitisation and derivatives experience ... and [he will] give us a point of differentiation in the strategically important area of carbon trading."

Breen, a former partner at Dibbs Barker Gosling, is an experienced insolvency and restructuring lawyer with a track record on high profile matters.

La Ferla is a corporate lawyer and rejoins the firm after retiring in 2007. He has strong business relationships in Western Australia. Boyd said WA has a "significant strategic value to Norton Rose Group that extends beyond its booming resources industry".