Top 5 Australian Law Firms

No. Clayton Utz is one of Australia`s largest law firms with six offices across Australia. The company is headquartered in Sydney, but also has offices in Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne and Perth. As of 2020, the top law firms in Australia (listed alphabetically) are:[34][35][36][37] MinterEllison is a multinational services firm based in Australia. Its lawyers work together in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK to achieve their goal of “being our clients` best partner”. The 2016 Acritas Brand Index ranked the firm among the top ten law firms in Asia Pacific, and they were recognized for their “high-level litigation” and “high-quality work.” Overall, the market continues to be dominated by the Big Six, which include Allens, Clayton Utz, Ashurst, Gilbert + Tobin, King & Wood Mallesons and Herbert Smith Freehills – all large companies that combine the strength of the bank with extensive domain expertise. International players such as Baker McKenzie have a strong foothold, particularly in transactional work and the growing technology space, while White & Case and Clifford Chance continue to expand their presence. A number of national companies, including Johnson Winter & Slattery, Minter Ellison and Corrs Chambers Westgarth, are also performing well, often challenging the traditional Big Six for high-profile mandates. Following mergers and merger agreements announced in 2012 and 2013, Freehills and Blake Dawson are now part of the UK law firm Silver Circle, while Allens now has an association agreement with a law firm Magic Circle. In particular, the best law firms all come from the field of commercial or business law. Graduates may be attracted to them for a variety of reasons: the prestige they offer, the promise of a stable career path, and perhaps most importantly, the lure of high graduate salaries. This list includes the top law firms in Australia in 2019, according to Millner & Knight, a fully integrated Australian claims management firm.

These companies would be the largest in terms of revenue, having collectively raised $2.8 billion. In alphabetical order, here are Australia`s largest law firms: “Our research shows that for most law students, the largest and best-known law firms continue to have unparalleled appeal,” says Geoff Adams, co-founder of GradAustralia. “However, it is important to note that many ambitious law graduates will choose other careers in areas such as consulting and policy development.” The good news for businesses is that law students are willing to give as much as they expect in compensation: they expect to work 50 hours or more per week, more than survey respondents from any other discipline. Sixty-seven per cent of them are willing to make sacrifices in their personal lives if it leads to career advancement. Overall, these companies are the highest in Australia with a turnover of over $2.8 billion and generally have the best customer service, top talent and impactful offerings. These six companies ranked in the top ten at one point and significantly increased their number of graduates in 2019 due to record profits. Let`s take a closer look at each of them. The majority of the six law firms were among the top 100 law firms in the world. In terms of revenue, these were: The term Big Six Law Firms referred to the six largest Australian law firms prior to 2012. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In 2012, four companies from other countries merged or established association relationships with companies from other countries (the United Kingdom for three of them, China for one of them). [6] Prior to 2012, the following law firms were generally considered the Big Six (listed alphabetically):[12] King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is an international law firm headquartered in Hong Kong. As stated on its website, the firm, which is among the “world`s most innovative law firms,” helps clients take advantage of unexplored opportunities in the Asian market.

In Australia, the leading law firm consists of six law firms formerly known as the Big Six. However, as four of the six law firms in the UK and China have merged or partnered with them, they are now considered Australia`s leading international law firm. Founded in 1841, Corrs Chmabers Westgarth is an independent Australian law firm that maintains relationships with law firms in Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, according to the Council of Australia Law Deans, with approximately 7,500 students graduating each year with a law degree. Some join large commercial law firms, others move into the public sector, some focus on legal specialties such as criminal and family law, and still others use their law studies as a springboard for careers in other fields such as media and consulting. In 2012, three of these companies merged with foreign companies and another began working jointly with a foreign company. I`ve posted a list of the top 100 companies below and will provide more information in the coming weeks. Are you ready to discover the top six law firms in Australia based on their income? Some of these predecessor companies were also leading companies in the Asia-Pacific region in general. In 2007, Arthur Robinson of Allen, Clayton Utz, Freehills and Stephen Jaques of Malleson were the top five companies in Asia Pacific in terms of mergers and acquisitions, ahead of Magic Circle`s Linklaters. [17] As we can see, there are a number of other law firms listed here that are not part of the “Big Six.” So who are they? While a law degree can take you to many places, it`s still traditional employers of new law graduates who dominate this year`s GradAustralia Top 100 Graduate Employers Survey. The highest ranking was Allens at number 33.

They were followed by Herbert Smith Freehills (55), King & Wood Mallesons (61), Clayton Utz (65) and Minter Ellison (67). In other words, each of the Big Six law firms ranked in the top 100 (with Ashurst out of 79). MinterEllison MinterEllison is an international law firm recognized as one of the leading law firms in the Asia-Pacific region. Founded in Sydney in 1827, the firm has since expanded into more non-traditional consulting services such as infrastructure consulting, risk and regulation, tax and technology. King & Wood Mallesons is a multinational law firm with offices in 14 countries. His predecessors included King & Wood and Stephen Jaques de Malleson, previously one of Australia`s Big Six. With approximately 169 partners and 756 lawyers, the firm offers a wide range of services ranging from competition law, commercial and regulatory law to tax law. Despite ongoing Covid uncertainty, Australian commercial law firms are active in the transactional space, with Australia`s traditional middle market recording significant transactions in resources, technology, retail, and food and beverage. One of the flagship deals was AB InBev`s sale of Carlton Breweries to Asahi for an estimated $16 billion, a complex multi-jurisdictional transaction that created work for a number of companies. In capital markets, the market has seen an increase in mergers and acquisitions, secondary capital raising, and IPOs, particularly in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. In the area of competition, the ACCC remains highly vulnerable to intervention, with a number of sector inquiries focusing in particular on large technologies, while M&A transactions are regularly challenged. The fight against cartels has also been an active source of work, as have changes to Australia`s foreign investment legislation.

Since the 2012 changes and due to the expansion of other competing law firms, the Australian legal landscape has been increasingly shaped by the concept of world-class law firms. [7] The top law firms are Allens, Ashurst, Clayton Utz, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Gilbert + Tobin, Herbert Smith Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons and MinterEllison. [8] [9] [10] [11] According to the National Profile of Solicitors published in 2018 by the Law Society of NSW, there were 18,748 private law firms in Australia. The profile also revealed that there were 76,303 practising lawyers in Australia as of October 2018. MinterEllison is an international law firm based in Australia that is recognized as one of the leading law firms in the Asia-Pacific region. Our teams work together in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK to achieve exceptional results. Allens Allens is a leading international law firm and one of the largest law firms in the Asia-Pacific region. Allen`s was founded in 1822 and has been in an international alliance with Linklaters since May 1, 2012. Rankings are based on the number of employees (not revenue or affiliate numbers) and I have provided affiliate numbers (or equivalent) where available. The Business Review Weekly (BRW) listed these firms in its top 500 private company charts by gross revenue:[18] In the 2011/2012 Australian financial year, the law firms with the highest turnover were:[19] London-based Magic Circle law firms with offices in Australia, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy, are not considered to be part of the same group as leading Australian law firms.