DWF promotes first Australian lawyer in nine-strong round

DWF has promoted nine of its lawyers to partner in its latest round, with one promotion coming from its newly-opened Brisbane office.

Liverpool and London have each received two new partners, while Birmingham, Brisbane, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle each received one effective 1 November.

DWF announced at the beginning of October that an alliance with MVM Legal had given it a presence in Brisbane and Melbourne. Regulatory partner Damian Hegarty has become the seventh DWF partner of legacy firm MVM Legal.

The firm’s core insurance practice has been the most heavily strengthened with Eileen Pathiraja, Fiona Matthews, Giles Kellner, Paul Donnelly and Rhys Sanchez all being made up.

Christian Hellmund (energy), Jonathan Smith (commercial litigation) and Lisa Stavropoulos (corporate) complete the lineup.

The majority of the new partners did not train at DWF, joining the firm from a variety of outlets such as Weightmans, Eversheds and defunct firm Halliwells.

Last year, the firm skipped London entirely for its annual promotions. Instead the firm chose to strengthen in the regions by making up partners in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.