HFW has opened an office in Brisbane, Australia with a five-lawyer construction team hired from local boutique CDI Lawyers.
The group is led by partner Christopher Rowden, who joins alongside two special counsel and two associates. The team advises contractors and subcontractors on construction and infrastructure projects across sectors including including energy and resources, oil and gas, renewables, and engineering.
“Queensland has been experiencing a construction boom, with many of our clients involved in major infrastructure projects across the state and in particular in the South East corridor,” said HFW’s Australia managing partner, Gavin Vallely.
“The investment in private and public infrastructure will continue as Queensland gears up for the 2032 Summer Olympics,” Vallely added. “Brisbane is also increasingly being recognised as a gateway to PNG and the Oceania region generally. Chris and his team will work closely with our Australian construction group to support clients on significant projects and disputes in Australia and across the wider Asia Pacific region.”
Rowden has spent the past decade at CDI Lawyers, where he became a principal – the firm’s equivalent of partner – in 2017. He brings expertise in large-scale court litigation, domestic and international arbitration and adjudication, and recently acted for a major Japanese contractor in international arbitration seated in Singapore and adjudication disputes in relation to the A$50bn Ichthys LNG project in Darwin.
The team’s hire brings HFW’s global construction practice to 90 lawyers, including nine partners that have been added over the past two years. HFW has also focused on growing its Australia practice over the past few years, following up large team hires across disputes and corporate in FY24 from Clyde & Co and MinterEllison, respectively, with four more partner hires in FY25. Among them was construction disputes specialist Sean Marriott, who joined in Perth from Clifford Chance late last year. The firm noted its Australian practice, which including Brisbane will have four offices, has nearly doubled its partner headcount to 33 since FY24 .
Rowden commented: “HFW is well known for its specialist and sector-focused expertise – something that has been central to my own practice for more than a decade. I feel a strong alignment with HFW’s vision and look forward to contributing to the firm’s continued growth.”
HFW has grown revenue and profit by more than a third since it introduced its current growth strategy at the start of FY23. The firm’s roughly 600 lawyers grew turnover 8% in the year to 31 March 2025 to £270.8m against a 2% rise in profit to £77.2m.
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