Ex-Clifford Chance lawyer Robert Ritchie has joined Corrs Chambers Westgarth's banking and finance practice as a partner.

Ritchie said he was attracted to Corrs, because it offered an "excellent" platform to grow. He also received very positive feedback about the firm from a number of Australian insitutions and corporations. "While Clifford Chance is an incredible institution, I saw that Corrs was a firm that had developed a reputation for being a go-getting and growth-oriented firm."

Formerly based in London, Singapore and Hong Kong, he acted on energy and resources, project finance or development matter, including oil and gas projects in PNG, the Lihir Gold financing and mixed use project developments in Macau.

In the past a number of Corrs lawyers have moved to Clifford Chance's London office, however, he hopes more lawyers will return to Corrs. "It is a two way street and I expect the relationship between the two firms to continue," he said.

Ritchie expects to focus on project work in Australia both on the sponsor and lender side. This would include corporate, resources, M&A, privatisation and restructuring work.