This week, the firm promoted five of its lawyers to associate, secured another new lawyer for the firm (yet to be disclosed) and announced that it had recently appointed Elisha Goosem to the firm - also as an associate.

Carter Newell CEO Dr Peter Ellender told Lawyers Weekly today that bolstering staff numbers comes down to the firm preparing for a full workload through 2010.

"We're actively recruiting at the moment," he said. "Yes, it [recruitment] was on hold last year because we had to respond to the market, but now we're back into bolstering up our key areas."

Those key areas include insurance, construction and engineering, resources, corporate, commercial property, litigation and dispute resolution and aviation - all of which, with the exception of commercial property, Ellender said have shown significant growth in the last couple of months.

Of the five associates promoted, Ellender said that three had started and stayed with the firm since they arrived as graduates in 2006 - a fact he said reflected the firm's successful retention strategy and culture.

"It's more about what we do in the little ways all the way around the firm and retention is driven by the culture that's provided here in terms of support and mentoring," he said.

"There's nothing out of the ordinary, but lots of little things that cumulatively provide a culture and an environment that is encouraging for young lawyers."

The five associates promoted include Paul Hemsey, Andrew Persijn, Johanna Kennerley, John Matthews and Rochelle Rieck.