b'new generation of partners, led by Bill Rowland and Vinceand 60s, especially through the growth of manufacturing McCarthy, rebuilt the practice after the Second World War.in Victoria, saw the firms commercial practice expand. This During this period, Feez Ruthning established a reputation aswas guided by influential senior partners Sir James Forrest the firm of choice for Sydney and Melbourne lawyers whoseand Sir Colin Syme.clients were looking to do business in Queensland.Arthur Robinson & CoThe transformation of the Queensland economy and theArthur Robinson & Cos practice was always predominantly establishment of major resources projects in the state,commercial, with strong ties to the mining and resources such as the expansion of the Mount Isa mine, generatedsector. The firm was founded by Arthur Robinson (later considerable work. The firm came to have a substantialSirArthur) in 1907 and became Arthur Robinson & Copresence in the property development sector in Southin 1914 when George Forrest Davies joined the practice. East Queensland, opening an office on the Gold Coast in 1982. It also established a strong relationship with theThe firms long association with the mining and resources Queensland Government, advising the government andsector stemmed from its close association with the its agencies on major infrastructure projects as well asCollins House group, in Collins Street Melbourne, where strategic commercial transactions, such as the merger ofa collection of prominent resources companies, and the the government-owned Suncorp and Queensland Industrialfinanciers and businessmen who ran them, brokered major Development Corporation with Metway Bank in the mid-1990s. transactions. Sir Arthur handled much of the legal work that originated there, including the incorporation and listing of Hedderwick Fookes & Alston the Zinc Corporation, establishing a relationship between The two Melbourne antecedent firmsHedderwickthe firm and the Zinc Corporations later incarnation,Fookes & Alston and Arthur Robinson & Cobuilt strong,Rio Tinto, that continues today. complementary practices before merging to form Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks in 1984. Hedderwick FookesSir Arthurs influence extended beyond his legal practice. & Alston began in 1852 when Kenric Brodribb arrived inHe exhibited an aptitude for oration from a young age and Melbourne from what was then Van Diemens Land anddeveloped an early interest in politics. At twenty-eightestablished a legal practice above Mr Coxs wine store inSir Arthur was elected a member of the Victorian Legislative Elizabeth Street south.Assembly and later served as the states solicitor-general, attorney-general and commissioner of public works, and Brodribbs firm prospered during the gold rush of the 1850s. as a member of numerous corporate boards.It was a lucrative time to be a lawyer, especially in Melbourne, with the city growing at a rapid rate. AnotherFrom the 1920s the firm represented international Melbourne legal firm, started by Charles Palmer, was alsocorporate clients and from the 1940s the practice grew flourishing. Both Brodribb and Palmers firms came to mergerapidly and diversified. The entrepreneurial Wesley Ince in 1910 under the name Hedderwick Fookes & Alston. played an important role and solidified the firms reputation as one of Melbournes leading commercial law firms. He The firms practice was for a long time focused on generalwas supported by the energetic but gruff John Rodd, who property work, including for Victorias pastoralists. Therewrote much of Australias corporate law, and the famously transformation of the Australian economy during the 1950sabsent-minded but technically brilliant John Harper, who xii'