Sparke Helmore has poached a government services team from Clayton Utz in a bid to boost the revenues from federal government agencies. Excluding the Australian Government Solicitor, Clayton Utz was the top recipient of Commonwealth legal spend last financial year, bringing in A$30.7m, while Sparke Helmore sat in fifth place with A$10.1m.

The team, led by partner Richard Morrison, will be based in Sparke Helmore’s Canberra office. Morrison took special counsel Holly McAdam, and lawyers Diana Navarro and Elizabeth Skelly with him when he left Clayton Utz.

Sparke Helmore national managing partner Jesse Webb said the firm is focused on procurement, legal and probity services, Federal litigation, and Commonwealth compensation.

Federal government agencies spent A$304m on external legal spend last year. Sparke Helmore will hope that the expansion of its government services team will help close the gap between it and fourth placed Minter Ellison, which received A$12.6m of federal government work in FY09.

The departure of Morrison’s team from Clayton Utz follow hot on the heels of the departure of 14 partners to join Magic Circle firm Allen & Over, which has decided to establish a significant Australian presence by opening offices in Perth and Sydney.

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Clayton Utz pulls in more than A$30m from Commonwealth in FY09