The new Ebsworth office, located in the heart of Melbourne’s legal district, will focus on insurance, transport work and financial services. The firm took with it four of the 11 previous Melbourne partners.

The opening follows the resignation of partners Philip Battye, John Goulios, Glenn O’Brien and George Triantopoulos from the Melbourne partnership earlier this year, who departed to start a new venture.

The other partners — Patrick Monahan, Philip Rowell and Robert Tuck — have opened a new practice under the name Monahan + Rowell.

The split of the Ebsworth partnership in February was at least in part due to financial considerations after the Sydney partners demanded the Melbourne office choose between entering a financially integrated and managed national partnership or exit the Ebsworth framework.

At the time of the split, Monahan told Lawyers Weekly the financial ramifications of a split were one of the deciding factors that led to the partnership becoming independent of the Ebsworth model. “The Melbourne office has been very profitable for many years,” he said.

“We will continue to service all our current clients. Ebsworth is taking four partners and they will take with them the clients that they service already,” Monahan said.

The Sydney and Melbourne offices of Ebsworth & Ebsworth are now fully financially integrated, and Brisbane is expected to join the framework later this year.