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Piper Alderman appoints next-gen leadership to drive national growth

03/02/2026

Premier national commercial law firm Piper Alderman has announced a new leadership team as it strengthens its position among Australia’s leading commercial firms, competing head-to-head with the traditional top tier.

James Macdonald has been appointed Managing Partner; the first time a Melbourne-based Partner has taken the helm in the firm’s 170-year history.

James is a highly regarded corporate and commercial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience advising on M&As, capital raisings, corporate governance, venture capital and commercial contracts. He’s advised listed and unlisted companies and private equity funds across a wide range of transactions in Australia and overseas.

He will be supported by Deputy Managing Partners, Martin Lovell (Adelaide), a leading projects, infrastructure and finance lawyer, and McKenzie Moore (Sydney), an accomplished lawyer with expertise in complex commercial litigation and cross-border disputes.

Former Managing Partner Tony Britten-Jones, who held the role for 11 years, is moving to take up the position of National Head of Real Estate to strengthen and grow this practice within the firm.

Mr Macdonald comments on the transition:

“We are pleased to have completed a smooth transition of leadership ensuring stability for our clients and we express deep gratitude to former Managing Partner Tony Britten-Jones.”

“Over 11 years, Tony oversaw significant firm growth and a strategic national expansion. Martin and McKenzie bring an exceptional skill set and breadth of experience to their leadership roles and together we will work to set the firm up for even greater success.”

Piper Alderman has more than 90 Partners across its national network with offices in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and most recently Darwin.

This national legal powerhouse has gone from strength to strength, growing revenue by 50% in the past four years ($84 million 20/21 to $125 million 24/25).

Mr Macdonald said the new leadership team heralds an era of transformation as Piper Alderman seeks to drive innovation, talent development and further expansion while rolling out leading legal AI tools:

“While AI poses challenges for the legal industry, we’re tackling it head-on because we see huge benefits for our clients. We are already using AI tools to help combat cyber threats and phishing and augment document reviews and drafting. We believe AI has the potential to unlock more client growth whilst providing further administrative efficiencies.”

“We take pride in delivering client outcomes with responsive, commercially decisive, expert advice on challenging legal issues, significant transactions and complex disputes.”

“We are the firm of choice by the next generation of technology driven companies that are pushing boundaries across fintech, blockchain and emerging digital markets.”

The firm is focused on further strengthening its solid reputation as a market leader across corporate (capital markets and M&A), litigation (class actions, regulatory investigations) energy and projects (energy transition, approvals, regulatory and finance) and financial services and technology.

Piper Alderman already has an enviable client list (including iconic Australian brand Coopers), advising market-leading institutions on nationally significant mandates.

The firm acted for People’s Choice on its merger with Heritage Bank to create Australia’s largest mutual bank, with 720,000 members and more than $23 billion in assets and was Australian counsel on the sale of Energy Exemplar to Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in a deal reported at more than $1 billion.

Piper Alderman is well known in the energy and infrastructure sectors, acting as a lead adviser on major national projects such as South Australia’s $15 billion North-South Corridor road and tunnelling project and the $2.3 billion SA-NSW electricity interconnector. Our teams advise on large-scale renewable energy projects and critical defence projects involving naval infrastructure and the Collins-class submarines.

The firm is a heavy-hitter in litigation, acting for clients such as Clarke Energy and Bogasi Pty Ltd in complex energy and family trusts arrangements and fintech companies like eToro Australia, who are currently defending a novel regulatory matter arising under the Corporations Act. The firm’s class action teams deal with matters impacting industries from finance to healthcare, including privacy, ESG, employment, automotive, securities, financial products, PI, and competition.

This calibre of work is reflected in independent recognition across numerous practice areas in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers & Partners and Best Lawyers.

The leadership change takes effect from February 1.

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