PwC tax ace the first to jump ship
Embattled professional services giant PwC has lost two lawyer partners in the past week and others are expected to follow suit once they have worked out notice periods of six months.
Top-tier firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth has picked up highly regarded tax lawyer Cameron Blackwood, while DLA Piper announced on Thursday it had hired infrastructure expert Luke Westmore.
Corrs Chamber Westgarth CEO Gavin MacLaren. Michelle Smith
Corrs took the unusual step of announcing Mr Blackwood’s appointment almost five months ahead of his starting date in January. Mr Westmore has his first day with DLA on Monday.
Corrs managing partner Gavin Maclaren said Mr Blackwood would join its Sydney office “once he has served out his formal notice period with PwC”.
The PwC partnership agreement also stipulates that during the notice period a partner cannot take on any new clients. They are also not permitted to do work with any clients they picked up while at PwC.
The Australian Financial Review has spoken to a number of law firms that say they have been talking to PwC partners, and expect more to defect in coming months.
Mr MacLaren said he had no concerns about taking on Mr Greenwood, who only joined PwC in June 2022, following its acquisition of specialist tax firm Greenwoods.
Fifteen partners moved across to the financial advisory arm of PwC, and Mr Greenwood is the first to jump ship since thetax leaks scandal engulfed PwC.
“This post-dates the conduct that is the focus of the PwC investigation,” Mr MacLaren said.
“Cameron is one of the best tax lawyers of his generation, and we are very pleased that he is joining Corrs.”
Ms MacLaren said he was not talking to other lawyers from PwC. “We are not actively recruiting from the accounting
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