McCullough Robertson announces diversified business supporting the Commonwealth Government
McCullough Robertson is pleased to announce the launch of a new complimentary and bespoke professional services business, McR Defence.
Leveraging the framework and diversity of one of Australia’s strongest and longest standing independent law firms, McR Defence provides high quality and sophisticated commercial, procurement and strategic advisory services, focused on government.
McCullough Robertson Lawyers have provided legal services to Australian business and government for over 90 years, and is pleased to continue to support the Commonwealth Government in a variety of ways. One of the few Australian firms successfully admitted to the new Whole of Government Legal Services Panel, McCullough Robertson is extending its value proposition to the Commonwealth by broadening its advisory services and diversifying into the Defence and National Security sector.
McR Defence brings a new level of commerciality to the market. With national reach and end-to-end capabilities, McR Defence is characterised by an experienced, commercially driven and passionate Defence and National Security team. With a deep understanding of the Capability Life Cycle and experience working across all domains – Land, Sea, Air and Joint – McR Defence specialises in supporting capability programs and projects, from business case development and needs analysis through to delivery.
Each team member has contemporary experience working for the Department of Defence, including the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), the Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG), and the Estate and Infrastructure Group (E&IG), with some having specialised experience enabling the National Intelligence Community (NIC). Our team are as comfortable working as part of a high-performance project team as they are working with the Executive.
Adding to our Defence and National Security pedigree, the team at McR Defence has previous experience working across a variety of adjacent industries on Critical Infrastructure, including Transport and Infrastructure, Construction, Oil and Gas and Energy. With the backing and framework of a large, Australian law firm, McR Defence are equipped to find solutions to the commercial complexities of the Defence and National Security sector.
Kristen Podagiel, Managing Partner of McCullough Robertson Lawyers comments on the introduction of McR Defence:
“McCullough Robertson is no stranger to challenging the status quo, leveraging our national framework and resources, to better serve our clients with complementary services. McR Defence adds to our growing suite of diversified businesses, including Allegiant IRS, our aligned insurance broking business. We aim to think commercially about our clients’ needs and how we can create additional value for the businesses and government bodies we work with.”
McR Defence will be led by a number of senior professionals including two new lateral partners, Brett Sangster and Evan Economo. Mr Sangster and Mr Economo joined the McCullough Robertson partnership from Downer EDI where they held senior executive level roles in legal and management, focused on providing high quality advisory services into Defence.
Managing the operational aspects of this new venture, Rebecca Sinclair has joined from a role managing the Major Services Provider project for Downer Defence, bringing extensive experience in Defence capability programs.
Brett Sangster, Partner of McCullough Robertson Lawyers and McR Defence lead is excited by this new opportunity and the impacts it will have in the market:
“This is a bold but exciting step for the legal industry to be extending their reach into commercial advisory and project delivery services. Defence programs and projects are complex and require the highest level of commercial leadership and input to help them to success.
The infrastructure and reputation of a firm such as McCullough Robertson is the ideal platform to provide high quality commercial services to help government to deliver successful programs and projects – which is good for all Australians. Further, the connections and relationships the Firm already has with government at all levels as a leading independent Australian law firm supports this venture’s success into the Defence and National Security community.”
Evan Economo, Partner of McCullough Robertson Lawyers and McR Defence lead notes:
“The role that critical infrastructure plays in our country’s future is often understated. The opportunity to further support our clients with complementary services founded on real expertise and experience is extremely valuable. McCullough Robertson is leading the way with McR Defence and tackling something previously relegated to the role of major consulting firms. I am pleased to be part of this journey and to have joined such a fantastic partnership.”
McR Defence will operate out of three of the Firm’s offices, Brisbane, Sydney and the Canberra office officially opened in 2019.
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