Gadens Lawyers Brisbane and fellow Brisbane firm Maunsell Pennington are to merge in the coming months.

Maunsell Pennington specialises in property, building & construction and commercial law, while Gadens specialises in mid-market transaction work in the property, banking, insolvency, litigation, insurance and energy sectors. The newly merged entity will retain the Gadens name and will be based in Brisbane’s CBD.

Gadens Brisbane chairman, Paul Spiro, explained that the firms decided to merge because both are committed to pursuing opportunities for growth.  “A real benefit is more experienced lawyers in the property, commercial and construction sectors, which are areas for growth as the economy recovers.  We believe the synergies created by the merger will make us a more formidable force in the Queensland legal market,” he said.

Managing partner of Maunsell Pennington, David Maunsell, added that the new entity would create opportunities for both clients and staff.  “Through the merger of like-minded, growth-focussed CBD law firms, we will create even more opportunities for partners, clients and staff,” Maunsell said. “We can create opportunities for our people to grow and prosper and we can act for more clients and bigger clients.”

Gadens national chairman Ian Clarke said the merger reflected the continuing strong growth of Gadens in Queensland.  “The Brisbane office continues to attract high-quality corporate and commercial work and the merger will allow the firm to better service an already very busy market.” 

Maunsell Pennington comprises three partners and a team of 14 professional and administrative staff. Gadens Lawyers is a national law firm with offices in all mainland states and in PNG, with 118 partners and 976 staff.

The merger process will be completed on 1 February 2011.

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