McCullough Robertson is part of a growing group of mid-tier firms to benefit from the latest wave of international mergers. Prior to moving to its new Sydney office at 55 Hunter Street in late February it inherited former Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) partner Michael Allen’s previous real estate team, including senior associate Julie Hamilton, who worked with him until his retirement in 2009. “We’ve been very lucky in many ways that we’ve been able to attract high quality people,” said Sydney real estate practice partner Brett Hawkins. Hawkins relocated from Brisbane and has a team of three, potentially moving to four and shares the graduates on rotation in Sydney with the other partners based there.
McCullough Robertson, which has its roots firmly in Queensland but operates nationally, has been quietly adding to its Sydney capabilities and has increased its office space to accommodate upto 36 lawyers expected to operate out of the new premises. “Our growth is definitely ‘going south’ and we’re bucking the trend in that respect. As everyone comes to Queensland we’re going to Sydney,” said McCullough Robertson director or business development and marketing, Kristie Fankhauser.
Relocating a partner from Brisbane was key to the success of that strategy, according to Hawkins. “We recognised that putting a Brisbane person down here as a partner was going to be conducive to making it work on the basis of an understanding of the McCullough Robertson culture – the way we do things,” he added.
On the question of whether there will be further growth in Sydney, the firm has identified opportunities where it can expand its offering following the annual partner’s retreat, which took place in the first weekend of March, according to commercial partner Paul McLachlan. “We’ve identified areas where we think there are opportunities in Sydney,” he said. “Here in Sydney we’ve had some really good wins. We’ve been appointed to the TransGrid Panel and our expertise is attracting the attention of NSW clients.” McLachlan adds that growing the local offering in the midcap market and offering more than what clients are getting from the top-tier is the firm’s strategy in this area. "obviously we're not the only firm to have worked that out," he concluded.
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