King & Wood Mallesons has appointed a new special counsel and two new senior associates in Canberra. The new appointees are special counsel Chris Trudinger, who specialises in securitisation and structured finance, senior associate Stephen Masterman, who specialises in financial services, corporate and commercial law and senior associate Hugh Bannister, who specialises in telecommunications law.

The firm said in a statement that the appointments reflected an “ongoing investment in the Canberra market” and noted that two new Canberra partners, Paul Crawford and Dan Kynaston, had been appointed last year.

“We’re focussed on building our bench strength here in Canberra,” said Canberra head Stephen Jaggers. “Having appointed two new Partners and two new Special Counsel last year, we’re focussed on ensuring the depth and breadth of our capability.”

An ALB survey of the Canberra market in August 2012 found that the largest provider of legal advice in that market was the Australian Government Solicitor with 150 lawyers. The next three largest offices were Clayton Utz with 48 lawyers, Minter Ellison with 40 and King & Wood Mallesons with 35.