Corrs Chambers Westgarth (often referred to as ''Corrs'') is an Australian commercial

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

. Corrs' clients include national and international corporations, governments, banks and financial sponsors.

History

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has its roots in the pre-gold rush days of Melbourne, dating back to when law firm Whiting and Byrne was formed in 1841. In 1883, Norton Smith Westgarth and Sanders was established in Sydney, followed two years later by Brisbane's Chambers McNab and Co. These three firms are the foundations of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, which was formed in 1991 by the merger of Corrs Australian Solicitors, Westgarth Middletons (Sydney) and Chambers McNab Tully and Wilson (Brisbane and Gold Coast). Corrs Australian Solicitors was formed two years earlier (initially with the name Corrs) via the merger of Corrs Pavey Whiting and Byrne, Adelaide's Mollison Litchfield and Perth's Keall Brinsden (founded in 1910).

Team

Across its offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Moresby, Corrs has a team of more than 1400 employees and over 750 lawyers. Gavin MacLaren has been the Senior Partner and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth since 2018. He has been recognised as an Innovative Leader in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia Pacific and as a Band 1 lawyer across multiple jurisdictions in the major legal directories. He previously held senior partnership roles at Freshfields and Allens.

Significant matters and deals

Corrs has advised on a number of high-profile deals and matters including: * Advised Saint-Gobain on its strategic acquisition of CSR Limited for A$4.3 billion * Advised Azure Minerals on its proposed joint acquisition by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. and Hancock Prospecting for A$1.70 billion * Advised

Coca-Cola European Partners Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc, also known as CCEP, is a British multinational bottling company operating as world's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler by net revenue. Involved in the marketing, production, and distribution of Coca-Cola ...

on its acquisition of

Coca-Cola Amatil Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCAL) was an Australian bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that existed from 1904 to 2021, when it merged with Coca-Cola European Partners to form Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. It was one of the largest bottlers of ...

, valued at A$11.1 billion * Advised

TPG Telecom TPG Telecom Limited, formerly Vodafone Hutchison Australia and renamed following a merger with TPG, is an Australian telecommunications company. It is the second-largest telecommunications company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. ...

on all aspects of the ten-year network sharing agreement with

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

* Advised Tritium on its A$1.2 billion merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation II and subsequent listing on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

* Advised

BGH Capital BGH Capital (BGH) is an Australian private equity company established in 2017 by Robin Bishop, Ben Gray (Australian businessman), Ben Gray, and Simon Harle. BGH is headquartered in Melbourne and is owned and managed by its founding partners. ...

on the establishment of Australia's largest private equity fund * Advised

Anchorage Capital Partners Anchorage Capital Partners is an Australian private equity company with headquarters in Sydney. Company name In 2015, the company lost a case in the Federal Court against a similarly named United States company, Anchorage Capital Group, ...

on the acquisition of iconic Australian department store David Jones * Advised the Rinehart family's company in relation to multiple claims being brought by two family members and two commercial third parties, worth more than A$10 billion * Advised Blackstone Alternative Asset Management on its launch of a fund for ANZ's high-net worth clients, targeting A$1 billion * Advised ACCIONA, COBRA, and Endeavour Energy (ACEREZ) consortium in groundbreaking renewable energy zone project in New South Wales * Advised the Australian Human Rights Institute on a project to support advancing human rights in the built environment * Acted

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

alongside Colin Golvan AM QC for Aboriginal man and artist, Harold Thomas, the owner of the copyright in the Australian Aboriginal flag, on the deal to assign copyright in the Flag to the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

* Acted pro bono alongside Doughty Street Chambers and the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute for Mr Noel Zihabamwe, an Australian human rights activist, in relation to the enforced disappearance of his two brothers in Rwanda

Awards

Corrs has received national, regional, and global recognition, having won various accolades and awards: * Corrs was named in Australasian Lawyer's Best Law Firms in Australia 2024 list * In 2024, the firm was named as a Leading Legal Advisor for M&A by MergerLinks in its Australia and New Zealand rankings * Corrs was named Law Firm of the Year – Competition Law in the 2024 Edition of Best Lawyers in Australia * In 2023, Corrs was named the Most Innovative Law Firm Headquartered in Asia-Pacific by the Financial Times * In 2022, the firm was named Australian Law Firm of the year by Chambers Asia Pacific & Greater China Region * The firm was named Law Firm of the Year, 2022 for Corporate Law by Best Lawyers, Australia * In 2021, the firm was named Law Firm of the Year and Commercial Team of the Year at the Australian Law Awards * Corrs won the award for innovation in Social Responsibility in the 2017 Financial Times Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards

Practice

In 2023, Corrs was named the ''Most Innovative Law Firm Headquartered in Asia-Pacific'' by the Financial Times. In 2022, the firm was named ''Australian Law Firm of the year'' by Chambers Asia Pacific & Greater China Region. That same year the firm was also named ''Law Firm of the Year, 2022'' for

Corporate Law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...

by Best Lawyers, Australia. In 2021, the firm was named ''Law Firm of the Year'' and ''Commercial Team of the Year'' at the Australian Law Awards. Corrs is recognised for its depth of expertise across sectors including: * Energy & Resources * Technology, Media & Telecommunications * Financial Services * Investment Funds & Private Equity * Life Sciences * Consumer & Retail * Transport & Logistics * Real Estate * Construction & Infrastructure * Food & Agribusiness * Government * Health & Aged Care * Industrials & Manufacturing

Notable employees

The following list includes people who have worked or consulted for Corrs Chambers Westgarth: * Michael Barker, former Federal Court judge of Australia. *

Andrew Bassat Andrew Reuven Bassat is a co-founder of Seek Limited along with his brother Paul Bassat. Since its inception in September 1997, the company has become the #1 Job seeking portal in Australia. Bassat remained CEO of SEEK until 2021 (succeeded by Ia ...

, CEO and co-founder of

SEEK SEEK Limited is an Australian employment website for job listings, headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Seek also operates in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. History Seek was founded ...

. *

Liz Ellis Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player and television presenter who was a member of the national netball team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most ca ...

, former captain of the Australian national netball team. * Kim Hargrave, Supreme Court judge of Victoria. *

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for Division of North Sydney, North Sydney from 1996 Australian federal election, 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer ...

, Australia's former ambassador to the United States of America (2016-2020), and former

treasurer of Australia The Treasurer of Australia, also known as the Federal Treasurer or more simply the Treasurer, is the Federal Executive Council (Australia), minister of state of the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing government revenu ...

(2013-2015). * Michael Lee, Federal Court judge, and former director of the Bell Shakespeare Company. *

Derek Volker Derek Volker, (born 1939) is a retired senior Australian public servant. Life and career Born in 1939, Volker was educated at Toowoomba State High School and the University of Queensland. Volker's early Australian Public Service career was i ...

, retired senior Australian public servant *

Allan Myers Allan James Myers (born 17 October 1947) is an Australian barrister, academic, businessman, landowner and philanthropist, and the previous Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. Early life and education Allan Myers was born in 1947 in Ha ...

, Australian QC (current), chancellor of Melbourne University, and currently ranked on the Australian Financial Review Rich List. *

Geoff Raby Geoffrey William "Geoff" Raby (born September 1953 in Melbourne) is an Australian economist and diplomat. He served as the Australian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from February 2007 until August 2011. He is now the chairman an ...

, former ambassador to China. * Justice Iain Ros, president of the

Fair Work Commission The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Austral ...

, and Federal Court judge of Australia. * John Storey, former chancellor of the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, former chairman of

Suncorp Suncorp Group Limited, known simply as Suncorp, is an Australian finance, insurance and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 1 December 1996 by the merger of Suncorp, Metway Bank and the Queensland Ind ...

and

Tabcorp Tabcorp is Australia's largest gambling company, employing more than 5,000 people. It is the largest provider of wagering and gaming products and services in Australia. Tabcorp is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). History In ...

. * Bernard Teague, former Supreme Court judge of Victoria

References

External links

*
Firm profile at Chambers and Partners

Firm profile at Legal 500 website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrs Chambers Westgarth Law firms of Australia Law firms established in 1841 1841 establishments in Australia