Moray & Agnew has boosted its national presence by opening a new office in Perth. Today the firm announced the appointment of insurance law expert Phil Keays, who will head up the Perth office.

Phil brings to Moray & Agnew more than 18 years experience in insurance law and litigation, acting for Australian insurers and insureds. He has particular expertise in policy advice and claims involving professional indemnity, directors and officers liability and public and product liability.

He joins from Sparke Helmore and brings with him his entire team of five. The lawyers joining include Dr Brenda McGivern (consultant), Nicola Frampton (special counsel), Tracy Bennett (senior associate), Verginia Serdev (lawyer) and Anna Miolin (graduate lawyer).

Moray & Agnew now has six offices across Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Newcastle and Perth. It brings the total number of partners to 58 and lawyers to 130. Announcing the expansion, national managing partner Michael Pitt said “Perth has always been part of our strategy and it now completes our national coverage. But we had to make sure the fit and skills were right. As soon as I met Phil and the team, I knew we had found what we’d been waiting for.”

“The major insurers want resources and plenty of them. There are only a few specialist firms in Australia which can deliver legal resources, leading systems, and technology on the scale required by national insurers. Our Perth office is a tremendous development for our clients and for the firm,” he said.

Commenting on his appointment, Phil said:

“I’m delighted to be joining a firm that has such a strong profile in the insurance industry. I was impressed by the depth of their relationships across the industry as a whole, not only with the insurers, but also with the loss adjusters, brokers, underwriting agents, the reinsurers, corporate and public sector insureds.

“The firm’s collegiate culture combined with its specialist insurance strategy made it an obvious choice for my practice,” he said.

The Perth expansion follows the firm’s announcement last week of former DLA Phillips Fox partner Peter Tredinnick, and special counsel Belinda Marshall joining the Sydney insurance practice.