Legal-led consulting underpins strong growth for Ashurst Consulting

The appointments are a result of extraordinary early success for Ashurst Consulting which commenced operation in June 2020 with its Board Advisory practice, led by Josh Smith, and Risk Advisory practice, led by Philip Hardy.

New partners Sid Maharaj, Melina Sehr, Tony Morris, Elena Lambros and Philip Hope each bring a significant track record in providing strong risk-focused advice.

The additional appointments will extend the scope of services the consulting business can combine with Ashurst’s core legal practices. By offering legal-led consulting, the firm will provide integrated risk and legal advice, taking an end-to-end approach to client needs.

The expansion in Ashurst Consulting’s Risk Advisory practice is designed to meet client demand for legal-led advice in areas including technology and cyber risk, change management and transformation, workplace health and safety, and deal and operational risk.

Jamie Ng, Ashurst executive team member and Global Head of Ashurst Consulting said the new partners were all high calibre experts who would provide a wealth of expertise and, advance the firm’s top-tier bespoke consulting service.

“Broadly, we are experiencing strong ongoing demand for advice in the key areas of change and risk management for business,” said Jamie Ng. “Since COVID in particular, our clients have asked us for help in areas well beyond traditional legal services. They want a legal-led approach but one that also taps into other critical capabilities.  That is what we have assembled.”

Growth Trajectory since mid-2020

In less than a year since commencing operations, Ashurst Consulting has experienced rapid growth in demand for offerings across all areas of the risk advisory business such as financial crime, transformation, health and safety, cyber and data, regulatory compliance, conduct and enterprise risk management.

Ashurst Consulting’s Head of Risk Advisory Philip Hardy said that the market for integrated legal and risk capabilities to solve client problems was significantly under-served.

“Our unique approach to legal-led consulting quickly gained significant traction and positive client feedback throughout 2020,” said Philip Hardy. “We’ve seen many clients tapping into our new offerings in the past twelve months; we expect that to accelerate. We have also have been surprised by the number of senior practitioners who continue to approach us wanting to join our team."

Outlook

Jamie Ng said Ashurst was advancing plans to grow Ashurst Consulting globally, with early preparatory work underway.

“We see continued opportunities in the global consulting market, which has recorded year-on-year growth for the past five years across both mature markets and emerging economies. The sector has an estimated value of more than $250 billion and is expanding as the global economy grows. We have plans to migrate our successful Australian model to the UK, and to other regions soon after.”

The firm has worked closely with Giam Swiegers, Chairman of Aurecon Group, as a business advisor in the development of the Ashurst Consulting business and its strategy.

Five New Partners for Ashurst Consulting

• Sid Maharaj, Cyber, Strategy and Reputational Risk - Sid has more than 20 years of experience across financial services, technology and the public sector, and brings expertise in cyber, strategic and reputational risk. He was the global leader of cyber and strategic risk at Deloitte.
• Melina Sehr, Transformation and Change Management - Melina brings over 25 years of experience (most recently with PwC) working across all industries and sectors and a broad range of disciplines in information technology and change management. Melina has a strong track record in delivering major transformation programs.
• Tony Morris, Occupational Health Safety and Wellbeing - Tony is an expert in health, safety and wellbeing, employment and investigations. He has 23 years of experience (most recently with Deloitte) in reputational risk including in advising on future of work, engaging the workforce, and reskilling agile working models.
• Elena Lambros, Strategy Risk and Project Management - Elena brings over 10 years of experience (most recently with Deloitte) implementing large strategic transformation and technology projects, project turnaround, strategic risk management and project assurance, within both the financial services and public service sectors.
• Philip Hope Financial Services Deal and Operating Model Risk - Philip has consulted to Ashurst Risk Advisory since June 2020 as Sector Lead – Wealth, Investment Management and Superannuation. His extensive capabilities in deal risk and operating models is widely regarded in the market.