Adam Lunn, partner in charge of Allens' Melbourne workplace relations group, and Heinz Lepahe, partner in charge of the workplace relations team at Cooper Grace Ward, will join Mills Oakley's workplace relations practice.

Lunn, who joins Mills Oakley after 16 years with Allens, explained his move from the top-tier as one motivated by a current trend in the workplace relations space, as the mid-tier gradually takes a bigger share of workplace relations work.

"The movement for workplace relations is going to be in the mid-tier going forward, largely because it's almost impossible to sustain top-tier rates for workplace relations work," he said.

"There has been a movement of workplace relations practices from the larger firms to the mid-tiers...I think that some firms, like Mills Oakley, are keen to capitalise on [that] movement."

Having spent 10 years in Asia doing international workplace relations work, Lunn returned to Melbourne to head Allens' team in 2007 and now joins five other partners in Mills Oakley's workplace team, with plans to make further senior appointments in the Melbourne and Sydney offices.