Clyde & Co Launches Australian Projects & Construction Practice

International law firm Clyde & Co has launched an Australian projects and construction practice in Perth with the appointment of two lateral partners, Beth Cubitt and Glen Warwick.

John Morris, Clyde & Co’s Global Head of Projects and Construction said: “We have made a strategic decision to become a major force globally in our core sectors, of which infrastructure is an important one. Similarly, we have entered the Australian market with purpose, expanding off the back of another of our core sectors, and are now embarking on the second phase of the firm’s development in the Australian market.”

The additions come a year after Clyde & Co entered the Australian market, acquiring a team from Allens to open offices in Sydney and Perth. Since opening, the firm’s Australian offices have grown to house 60 employees, with nine partners heading a team of 45 legal staff.

Clyde & Co’s infrastructure sector practice in Australia will feature a strong international element, servicing international players on both an inbound and outbound basis, and leveraging the firm’s Asia Pacific and emerging market presence.

David McElveney, a construction partner at Clyde & Co, and a former National Head of Construction at Australian firm Deacons, said: “It’s no secret that Australia can be a competitive market. What we are doing is quite deliberately pursuing a strategy of expansion in the infrastructure space at a time when a number of firms are retrenching. A number of our international clients have indicated that they would like to see us with a presence in Australia. We have then specifically targeted Glen and Beth in Perth on the basis of their quality and expertise, in addition to the esteem with which they are held in the Western Australian market. We aim to be a force in the market from day one.”

Jenny Thornton, the head of Clyde & Co’s Perth office, said: “I am very excited that Beth and Glen will be joining Clyde & Co in Perth. To a large extent in this process we have been led by clients as to who they considered to be ‘best-in-market’ and Beth and Glen were the stand out practitioners. Their practices will complement our insurance, disputes, maritime and oil and gas practices which are our primary focus in the West Australian market. It has likewise been very gratifying to hear from Glen and Beth that Clyde & Co’s commitment to developing a construction practice focussed on the energy and resources sector in Western Australia was a strong motivating factor in them joining us.”

“Additionally, as an experienced arbitration practitioner, Beth’s arrival will further complement and connect us with the firm’s international arbitration offering. There has been a marked growth in the size and complexity of construction disputes and international arbitration in the Asia Pacific region, and a corresponding rise in the number of arbitrations involving one or more West Australian clients – leveraging the firm’s heavyweight international reputation and resources in this area will enable us to provide our clients with a very distinctive and highly skilled offering.”

Beth Cubitt will join Clyde & Co on 1 November after 12 years with King & Wood Mallesons in Perth and Melbourne. She specialises in front-end and back-end construction law, covering cross-border transactions, project structures, procurement systems, contract documents, arbitration and cross-border disputes, particularly in the energy and resources sector.

Glen Warwick joins Clyde & Co from the Perth office of Norton Rose. He specialises in construction and engineering law with a focus on energy, infrastructure and mining. Glen has extensive experience with complex contracts across Australia, the Middle East and Asia, as well as considerable dispute resolution experience.

Prior to returning to Australia in February 2011, Glen worked with Clyde & Co’s Middle East projects and construction group for two years.

Glen is joined at Clyde & Co by Norton Rose associate Rupert Coldwell.

Other recent additions to Clyde & Co’s infrastructure sector group include the lateral hire of partner Joe Moore from Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald in San Francisco; of Kim Barton as Counsel in Hong Kong from King & Wood Mallesons and, also in Hong Kong, of Karen Linker as a Consultant, formerly a partner at another international law firm in Hong Kong.

Internal relocations into the Asia Pacific region include Tia Starey, a senior associate from the construction group in Clyde & Co’s London office into Singapore to work alongside Michael Horn, an infrastructure finance specialist; and Paul Morgan, a senior associate also from the UK team who has relocated to Sydney.

Clyde & Co’s global infrastructure team consists of more than 100 infrastructure lawyers working across six continents.

www.clydeco.com


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