Infrastructure specialist Geoffrey Wood has joined Baker & McKenzie’s construction team from Mallesons Stephen Jaques. Wood has worked on some landmark infrastructure and defence projects including the A$8bn SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer program, the Royal North Shore Hospital Redevelopment PPP, the Adelaide and Sydney desalination plants, a number of capital works and maintenance projects at the Port Kembla steelworks, a major magnesium project, and various Sydney road projects. Prior to joining Mallesons in 1998, Woods was a Partner at Blake Dawson Waldron in Sydney and a partner at Freehills.

Baker & McKenzie has identified the major projects, infrastructure and construction practices as key growth priorities both in the local and Asia Pacific markets. To that end, the firm has made four lateral hires so far this year in the above practice areas also bringing in Nicholas Grambas from Macquarie Bank, Alex Hartmann from DLA Phillips Fox, and John Mollard from Blake Dawson. Hartmann and Wood both worked on the Sydney desalination project.