In the midst of the global financial crisis, large companies have been increasingly tempted by the allure of mid-tier firms but lower fees are not the only attraction - 'premier' treatment is also a factor.

Melbourne and Sydney commercial firm Macpherson + Kelley (M+K) can credit a slice of its 24% growth this year to an increasing number of large public and multinational clients. Managing director Damian Paul said that six different businesses which traditionally used top-tier firms recently enquired about moving over. They not only want to know whether M+K can service them, but whether the firm can treat them as a premier client.

 "They are not the sort of clients who would spend a million dollars in fees annually, but more like A$50,000-500,000. In addition to cutting their legal spend, they were looking for a firm that gave their work priority, did it straight away and didn't shoot it down to a junior lawyer. They also lost patience when other firms couldn't act for them on more than one occasion due to conflicts," said Paul.

While some areas of the firm's work, such as IPOs,  have softened M+K has noticed a 40% rise in employment work. It has also seen growth in property, owing to major property developer clients that sell to the first homeowner market. M&A work has also kept the firm busy, especially clients acquiring distressed assets using existing reserves or debt. This has prompted the appointment of eight new lawyers, one of which is Rob Jackson.

M+K has implemented cost-cutting measures - the recent retrenchment of two mid-level commercial senior associates and one junior litigation lawyer. "It wasn't so much because of the global financial crisis, but rather they weren't performing well enough. We might have tolerated this longer in more buoyant times but we are looking for areas in which we can cut costs. Similarly, we haven't taken on so many graduates this year - four instead of seven," said Paul.

The firm has explored other avenues to cut costs, one of which involves subleasing surplus office space. The move is expected to generate an additional A$250,000 per year.