Mark Beyer

WHO holds the whip hand at Perth’s big law firms these days? Is it the senior partners who know the local clients, or the people in Sydney and Melbourne who set the financial targets?

PERTH’S biggest law firms have been shrinking over the past decade while the smaller firms have been growing, leaving some pundits to suggest most law firms will end up looking remarkably similar.

THE Water Corporation has completed a renewal of its board, with the appointment of Brian Hewitt and Brendan Hammond as non-executive directors.

Ric Stowe’s The Griffin Group agreed early this month to investigate building a pulp mill at Collie but, as Mark Beyer reports, its real agenda is to build its energy division.

NICHE insurance company St Andrew’s Australia has obtained regulatory approval to operate a new life insurance company.

LAST June, Perth investor Barry Patterson surprised the market by staking $10 million to take a controlling stake in struggling office supplies company National 1.

PERTH law firm Steinepreis Paganin worked on more Initial Public Offerings last year than any other law firm in the country, a national survey has found.

THE three remaining directors of financial planning firm Smith Martis Cork & Rajan have been ordered to pay ousted managing director Joseph Martis $737,000 plus interest for his stake in the business.

A SMALL group of Perth-based corporate advisory firms have established a growing niche in equity capital raisings for Western Australian businesses.