Allens was initially founded as Allen Allen & Hemsley in 1822 in Sydney, establishing it as the oldest law firm in Australia. In 2001, Allens Arthur Robinson was formed through the merger with the Melbourne-based Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks and later became Allens Linklaters after aligning with the Magic Circle law firm Linklaters in 2012.

Most famously, the firm acted for the Australian banks in the Bank Nationalisation Case (Bank of New South Wales v Commonwealth (1948) 76 CLR 1) and the Australian Bankers’ Association during the Whitlam Labour Government loans scandal. 

Allens currently offers international secondment opportunities for graduates to go to London or Asia via their alliance with Linklaters.

Group’s acquisition of the Patrick Corporation and Mayne Group’s demerger. It also represented the Singapore Exchange's proposed merger with ASX.

Clayton Utz has established numerous partnerships with international firms despite being an independent Australian firm. In 2006, Senior associate Sarah Varney from the Banking & Finance group got a taste of Parisian life via a six-month secondment program with the Paris-based Jeantet Associates. Clayton Utz has also increased interactions with Japanese law firms, resulting in them sending lawyers overseas to work on international transactions without the threat of not being able to rejoin in Australia.

HSF is headquartered in London and Sydney and was formed in 2012 by a merger between UK-based Herbert Smith, a member of the Silver Circle, and Freehills, one of the Big Six Australian law firms. HSF specialises in litigation, mergers, and equity matters.

HSF has 26 offices across Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Interestingly,  the Seoul and Tokyo offices are staffed by Commonwealth lawyers and do not practise local law. The Tokyo office relies upon a referral arrangement with Japan’s Big Four law firms (Anderson Mōri & Tomotsune; Mori Hamada & Matsumoto; Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Nishimura & Asahi) to avoid competing with them for local work.

Since its foundation in 2012, HSF has facilitated over 1200 international transfers. In 2023, HSF sent ten Australian graduates on international secondments. Australian graduates can work in Singapore, Hong Kong, or London offices. 

KWM is recognised internationally but is predominantly based in Asia Pacific, with 26 offices across Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, and the United States. King & Wood was among the first law firms established in the People’s Republic of China, and its clients included Citigroup, Bank of China, and the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2007 Summer Olympics. The firm later merged with Australian firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques in 2012 and was later joined by the  UK Silver Circle firm SJ Berwin in 2013. Interestingly, before this merger, King & Wood had a prior history with the Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin. 

Locally, KWM has advised Square Inc (now Block Inc) to acquire Afterpay, the largest M&A deal in Australian history. Additionally, the firm is well known for supporting the community through pro bono legal services. In 2021, more than 91% of KWM’s Australian lawyers participated in pro bono work. The firm is also a long-time partner of Youth Law Australia, a community legal centre that provides free legal services to children and young people across Australia.

Since KWM’s merger with SJ Berwin, the firm has sent several teams and partners to China or Europe for secondment programs lasting between three and five months. For example, a team of IT staff had been seconded in China for five months to work on the Chinese partnership’s IT system of the Chinese alliance.

MinterEllison is Australian-based but has 13 offices in five countries. It is also the largest law firm in Australia regarding its number of lawyers. MinterEllison provides a range of non-legal services, including consulting and project management.

MinterEllison provides its lawyers with international exposure through a broad network of offices and industry partnerships, allowing them to work across different practice groups and offices.