Clayton Utz will build a forensic team to manage fraud and regulatory investigations and build compliance programs, cutting its reliance on outsourcing to the Big Four accounting firms in the latest move that is blurring the divide between professional services firms.
The national law firm has recruited Paul Fontanot from global accounting firm EY to head a dedicated national forensic and technology services practice based in Sydney.
"It brings a holistic offering to the market place in response to what we have seen over the past five years as a real client need, which we think will complement our core legal skill set," said Clayton Utz chief executive partner Robert Cutler.
"That'll give us great ability to engage early on anti-bribery, cyber risk and fraud. Regulators across the world are getting much more sophisticated in their cross-border communications."
Mr Cutler said it would make Clayton Utz the first Australian law firm with an integrated forensics capability, something he has looked at doing since taking the leadership role.
Rival Minter Ellison has been chasing growth through services ancillary to its legal core such as consulting and project management since former PwC head Tony Harrington took charge in 2014.
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On the flip side, the Big Four accounting firms — which increasingly prefer the broader "consulting" title — are executing bold strategies to capture more of the legal services market beyond traditional ancillary domains such as tax.
In December, KPMG recruited Arnold Bloch Leibler's employment head James Simpson. At PwC, recent recruits to the line-up led by former KWM leaders Tony O'Malley and Tim Blue include Clifford Chance corporate lawyers Mark Pistilli, Danny Simmons and Jodi Henry.
Mr Fontanot spent two decades at EY, rising to lead an Asia-Pacific-wide team within fraud investigation and dispute services.
The forensic practice will work with the existing legal tecnology services practice led by Jonathan Prideaux, whose mandate includes electronic data and evidence management.
Mr Fontanot said Australian law firms generally outsourced forensic work that complemented their services to others, particularly the Big Four. That contrasted with international law firms, which had developed their own capabilities.
"Law firms have traditionally been conservative," he said.
"It's an opportunity to grow."
