Ashurst’s exit from Canberra has handed mid-tier rival Thomsons a major windfall, vaulting it into second place among firms advising the Commonwealth.
In early 2025, Ashurst jettisoned roughly 60 staff and seven partners from its Canberra office and stepped back from the bulk of its Commonwealth government work, as a result of margin pressure and the high cost of servicing government panels while meeting international overheads, has proven a significant opportunity for Thomsons (formerly Thomson Geer).
According to The Australian Financial Review’s latest audit of AusTender contracts commencing in 2025-26, Thomsons secured just under $40 million in fresh federal government contracts, which puts the firm firmly in second place, well ahead of the $5.5 million it recorded the prior year and even above the $33 million Ashurst itself secured.
Clayton Utz retained the top spot for a second consecutive year with $57 million in new contracts (down from $71 million the previous year).
Other traditional heavyweights saw declines: Sparke Helmore dropped to $37 million (from $66 million), Norton Rose Fulbright to $28 million (from $47 million), HWL Ebsworth to $20 million (from $30 million), and MinterEllison to $14 million (from $30 million). MinterEllison was particularly affected by the 2024 panel shake-up that curtailed its remit and saw partners move to Clayton Utz.
Gilbert + Tobin also climbed into the top 10, boosted by a $7.5 million contract assisting the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion plus $4 million from the Finance Department. The firm last ranked highly in 2023 with work on the Robodebt Royal Commission.
Some firms grew: Moray & Agnew rose to $6.5 million (from $1.8 million), Johnson Winter Slattery to $17.6 million (from $12 million), and Maddocks to $28 million (from $25 million).
Cost-Cutting Meets Panel Power
Overall new contract values fell as the government pushes to slash legal costs and bring more work in-house. Labor aims to cut $5.3 billion from outsourced costs over the four years to 2026-27, plus a further $6.4 billion over four years from 2025-26.
This continues the theme of the 2024 Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel overhaul, which LawFuel previously covered as delivering a contract bonanza for selected firms even as total outsourced spend was targeted for reduction.
Top-tier firms such as Herbert Smith Freehills, Allens and Corrs Chambers Westgarth do little government work, partly because the thinner margins and panel discounting struggle to cover their cost bases.
Mid-tier firms with leaner structures are better positioned to compete.
Thomsons’ success reflects a deliberate, nearly decade-long strategy under chief executive partner Adrian Tembel. The firm began positioning for federal work in 2017-18, opened a small private-sector litigation office in Canberra in 2022 as a stepping stone, secured a full panel appointment in July 2024, and then acquired Ashurst’s Canberra team effective 1 July 2025.
“We used that [office] as a stepping stone to get on a full panel appointment with the Commonwealth in July 2024. Then we took the opportunity … and convinced those guys at Ashurst to come across,” Tembel told the AFR.
He noted that steady federal government work helps offset private-sector cycles, while still offering high-stakes matters: “[We are] working on some of the biggest industrial projects in the nation’s history with defence, for example.”
Looking ahead, Thomsons aims to capture less complex, high-volume work through its offshoot AI legal brand Faculti Lawyers, which leverages artificial intelligence to deliver high-frequency legal services more cost-effectively. The firm rebranded from Thomson Geer and launched Faculti in May 2026 as part of a two-brand strategy separating complex advisory work from scalable process work.
