The official date for the combination of
Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and
Henry Davis York (HDY) has been confirmed.
An NRF spokesperson has told The Australian Financial Review that the two firms will officially merge on 1 December. HDY will retire its brand and will work under the NRF banner.
The publication also reported that NRF partners Iain Laughland and Cameron Thomson are leaving the firm after their respective notice periods. Laughland will move to
Mills Oakley and Thomson will join Clyde & Co.
The two firms confirmed that an “
overwhelming majority” of their respective partnerships voted for the merger in June. However, partners have opted to join other firms since then.
NRF said that
losses ahead of mergers are common, as rival firms announced new hires from the merging firms.
In July,
Maddocks hired special counsel Bronwyn Maynard in Sydney from HDY.
In August, UK firm
Pinsent Masons announced it was
opening an office in Perth with a team of four partners hired from NRF. Later in the month,
five partners were confirmed to be moving from HDY to
Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
In September, an NRF special counsel and partner set up their own boutique firm in Sydney. That same month, Gilbert + Tobin
hired a partner from NRF. Mills Oakley also
appointed a partner from HDY in Sydney in September.
Later this month, two HDY partners will be moving to Lander & Rogers’ workplace relations and safety practice.
Ahead of the merger, NRF
welcomed partners Adam Edelman and Raymond Lou. It also
promoted 24 lawyers in Australia. HDY has also
promoted 14 lawyers to senior positions ahead of the merger.
Just last week, NRF appointed new partners Phillipa Beck, Daniel Vicano, and Ann Donohue.
Related stories:
NRF, HDY partnerships approve merger
NRF says partner losses common ahead of mergers
