The firm has appointed five new partners, six special counsel and 17 senior associates effective from 1 July. This is the biggest number of appointments made by Henry Davis York in over 10 years.

Two of the partnership appointments, Patrick O'Grady and Tim Barton, were lured across from Corrs Chambers Westgarth. They are both finance and banking specialists, with O'Grady the former head of Corrs banking and finance team, where he worked on transactions that included advising Multiplex and the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies in implementing the binding and financing arrangements for the Wembley Stadium project.

HDY managing partner Sharon Cook told Lawyers Weekly that the recruitment of O'Grady and Barton came after an "intensive search period of six months or more".

"A major strategic focus for us is to strengthen our banking and finance practice," Cook said. "While most of our growth is generated organically, we are delighted to have Tim and Patrick with the firm given their reputation."

Cook said that O'Grady and Barton and HDY had mutual clients from within the banking sector.

Of other partnership appointments, Matthew McMillan is the first partner appointed from the firm's summer clerk ranks. He joined HDY in 1996 and is a technology and communications specialist with the firm's corporate group.

The appointments come on the back of HDY posting some record revenue figures. The firm brought in $85 million for the 2008/09 financial year, a 15 per cent increase on the previous period. HDY have forecast a further 13 per cent increase on that figure for the 2009/10 period to $96 million.

Much of the firm's growth during this period was driven by the global financial crisis, with Henry Davis York picking up lots of work related to corporate restructuring and insolvency.

"We have performed impressively over the last two years, and we are very focussed on building a firm that is successful in both good and bad economic times," managing partner Sharon cook said. "The GFC gave our clients broader exposure to other parts of the firm, and we hope to broaden the depth of that relationship [with clients] and demonstrate our capabilities throughout all the practice areas we represent."

Justin Whealing