Allens Arthur Robinson

Infobox_Company
company_type = Partnership
company_
foundation = 1822
location = 14 offices in 8 countries
key_people = Michael Rose (Managing Partner) and Jim Thynne (Chairman of Partners)
num_employees = Approx. 1,600
industry = Legal Services
homepage = [http://www.aar.com.au]

Allens Arthur Robinson ("Allens") is a commercial law firm that operates in the Asia-Pacific region. In Australia it is considered one of the top commercial law firms.

Offices

Allens has staff based in 14 cities and eight countries across the region, including Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane,Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Melbourne, Perth, Phnom Penh, Port Moresby, Shanghai, Singapore and
Sydney. It is one of the largest law firms in the Asia Pacific region, with almost 200 partners and over 600 legal professionals.

Allens has a professional 'best friends' relationship with leading UK law firm Slaughter and May to work together in the Asia region (excluding Japan).

Allens also comprises a separate patent attorney firm, Allens Arthur Robinson Patent & Trade Marks Attorneys, which is closely integrated with the law firm's intellectual property group.

Awards

Major/firm-wide awards include:
*Best Large Professional Services Firm of the Year -- BRW-St George Client Choice Awards 2005, 2006, 2008
*Best Large Law Firm -- BRW-St George Client Choice Awards 2005, 2006, 2008The firm has also received numerous awards for individual practice areas.

History

Allens Arthur Robinson was formed on July 1 2001 by the merger of the Melbourne-headquartered Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks (ARH) and the Sydney-headquartered Allen Allen & Hemsley (AAH), which created one of the largest law firms in the Asia Pacific. The two firms had been associated for 15 years prior to the merger through the Allens Arthur Robinson Group alliance.

The Sydney firm that became Allen Allen & Hemsley had been in existence since 1822, making Allens Australia's longest continuous legal partnership. Former senior partner Sir Norman Cowper, who commenced with AAH as a solicitor in 1923 and worked at the firm for over 50 years, has been credited with turning AAH into one of Australia's leading law firms.

In the early 1990s the firm was rocked by revelations that Adrian Powles, a former partner in the London office, had secretly accessed a client's trust account to fund a gambling addiction. Sydney journalist Valerie Lawson published a book in 1995 entitled "The Allens Affair" that details the Powles case and touches on much of the early history of the firm.

Arthur Robinson & Co. began trading in Melbourne on May 11, 1914, just prior to the outbreak of World War I. In 1984, Arthur Robinson & Co. merged with Hedderwick Fookes & Alston to form Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks.

On August 1, 2008, Johnson Winter & Slattery, solicitors of the late Don Bradman's son, sought damages from the firm for alleged failures of "due care, skill and diligence" in assigning the cricketer's name to the Bradman Foundation.

Australian Art Collection

Allens is known to have an impressive collection of Australian art (predominantly paintings).

The Allens collection dates from the late 1970s when the firm moved into offices of the then new MLC Centre, Sydney. The collection has now over a thousand works hanging in all of its offices, including several works by David Bromley and McLean Edwards. A core purpose of the collection is to support young, unknown Australian artists – Allens doesn't buy work from artists who already have a high profile.

The works also reflect the passion of former partner Hugh Jamieson – the driving force of the collection. In an introduction to an exhibition of works in 1993 he wrote: "In the closing years of the twentieth century, Australians, if they are to survive, are faced with the need to find innovative solutions to their problems. This is also true in the practice of law. For those of us who work with the collection in front of us every day, the artists encourage us to confront the new, not only through the colour and vitality of their works, but also by the messages they convey. By supporting working artists, the firm is encouraging the development of Australian cultural expression. By providing a platform for this expression, the firm makes a statement about the sort of Australia it believes in."

Notable Alumni

*AAH alumnus James Wolfensohn served as President of the World Bank from 1995-2005.
*AAH alumnus Justice William Gummow AC has been a judge of the High Court of Australia since 1995. At the time of his appointment to the High Court he had been a judge of the Federal Court of Australia since 1986.
*Sir Norman Lethbridge Cowper (1896 - 1987) was a former Senior Partner.
*Sir William McMahon (1908 - 1988) practised as a lawyer at Allen, Allen & Hemsley between 1933 and 1939 and later served as Australia's 20th Prime Minister.
*Former AAH partner John Lehane left the firm's banking and finance practice to become a Federal Court Judge.
*Former Allens partner Ian Renard is the current Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.
*Andrew O'Keefe was a former Allens lawyer and is now a TV presenter on Deal or No Deal and Weekend Sunrise.

External links

* [http://www.aar.com.au/ Allens Arthur Robinson Website]