Piper Alderman picks up projects pro to lead Sydney real estate team

Piper Alderman is not done adding senior lawyers to its ranks.

The national firm has appointed Margot King as partner and head of real estate in Sydney. The senior lawyer joined the firm this month from Walker Corporation, where she was project legal counsel for the $3.2bn Parramatta Square Project.

The new appointment continues the firm’s senior-lawyer hiring spree across Australia. Piper Alderman recently welcomed a five-strong real estate team in Brisbane from K&L Gates. The firm also recently added a special counsel in Melbourne, a partner in Sydney, and a partner in Brisbane.

Prior to the Walker Corporation, King was of counsel at Jones Day, which also seconded her to property and infrastructure giant Lendlease as legal counsel for the Barangaroo South Urban Regeneration Project. She was also previously senior associate at Ashurst in London, at Allens in Perth, and at legacy CMS Cameron McKenna in Sofia, Bulgaria. At Allens, she was seconded to Rio Tinto, working on the expansion of iron ore projects.

“Margot has a wealth of experience, both in private practice and in-house. Margot’s addition to the real estate team strengthens our existing offering to our clients and aligns with our strategic goals for our national real estate practice,” said Tony Britten-Jones, managing partner and head of the firm’s national real estate team.

King is admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the High Court of Australia, and the Court of England and Wales. She has extensive experience in urban-regeneration projects, including acting on the redevelopment of the BBC Television Centre re-development in London in addition to Barangaroo South.

“The outlook for urban regeneration and infrastructure projects in Sydney remains positive and I saw a great opportunity to return to private practice to build and lead a practice for developers and investors in property projects,” King said. “I am looking forward to applying the commercial insight and understanding of client needs that I have developed in-house to deliver premium client service with focussed legal solutions.”

Margot King