Clarendon Lawyers is beefing up their already strong M&A practice, with the appointment of a new litigation lawyer.
With five dedicated M&A directors, the appointment of experienced litigator Susie Stone will fill the increasing need for dispute resolution stemming from M&A transactions.
“What we’re seeing and experiencing in the market, is more disputes arising in M&A transactions, whether they be in relation to completion accounts, earn-out mechanisms, warranty claims and so on,” said managing director Tony Symons.
“Where we’ve acted on those M&A transactions, our clients naturally want us to act on the dispute, if and when they arise. So it made sense that we brought a specialist litigator on board to support our clients on those aspects of the transaction.”
In recent years, Clarendon Lawyers has managed to claim a significant claim over mid-market M&A transactions. While it’s not the firm’s strategy to go after M&A work at the big end of town, Clarendon is beginning to see opportunities from international referrals, acting as the independent Australian component of a transaction.
“We’re certainly not chasing the mega Japan Post/ Toll sort of transactions. The mid-market M&A transactions are where we sort of see ourselves adding real value,” Symons said.
“Quite often, the mid-market doesn’t get the ‘A-Team’ at bigger firms; that presents us with great opportunity and that is where our energy goes, so those clients get the attention from us that they deserve.”
The appointment of Susie Stone follows the appointment of John Mann, who joined the firm in the M&A team back in May.
