Minters cashes in on university consultancy demand
MinterEllison’s burgeoning consulting division continues to grow, after the top-tier law firm bought higher education consultant Wells Advisory to create an “end-to-end” legal and advisory higher education practice.
As part of the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, Wells Advisory founder Michael Wells and director Paula Kelly will join the MinterEllison partnership, along with the firm’s nine employees.
Michael Wells and his nine staff have joined MinterEllison
As universities face criticism for racking up large consulting bills – often from firms with little or no higher education expertise – and increasingly seek to market and govern themselves as private enterprises, Mr Wells told The Australian Financial Review that specialised knowledge and advice was a point of difference.
“In this space you, certainly need to understand the ‘academic interface’,” he said.
“They are academic-led organisations with a mission that is not commercial, and so providing services to universities requires significant understanding of that context.”
As tertiary education providers contend with ever-changing international student regulations and funding regimes, and the ongoing consequences of underpayment scandals and protracted industrial relations battles, demand has grown for solutions combining legal and advisory services.
Mr Wells said the two firms had overlapping clients. “It’s basically been client-led demand,” he said.
“The space we work in is highly regulated, and there are a lot of legal issues that come up outside of regulation in universities as big enterprises.”
MinterEllison chief executive Virginia Briggs said “combining the Wells Advisory consultants into our consultancy business will allow our education clients to
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