Shuttered law firm Dwyer Durack in administration
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Perth law firm Dwyer Durack has been put in the hands of an administrator, as the 109-year-old practice prepares to shut its doors on Friday.
The St Georges Terrace-based law firm has confirmed today was its last day of business, marking an end to its 109 years of operation as a multifaceted second-tier law firm.
An ASIC notice published this afternoon has revealed the firm, registered under Dwyers Legal Pty Ltd, appointed Worrells principal Mervyn Kitay as administrator.
Notice for a first meeting of company creditors was also lodged for later this month.
Dwyer Durack was founded in 1915 by the late Walter Dwyer and John Patrick “JP” Durack, the latter of whom became father to Liberal politician Peter Durack who served as Commonwealth Attorney General.
The firm then became known as Dwyer Durack & Dunphy when the late William Henry Dunphy joined the partnership, with the name reverting to Dwyer Durack in the 1980/90s, according to the firm's website.
Mr Dwyer was the first president of the Arbitration Court of WA and president of the Law Society of WA for a period of time. He was knighted for his services to the law in 1949.
The law firm’s current managing director is Peter Fraser, alongside director Maree van der Kwast and head of department Daniel Gill. It appears the company had 17 staff in total and had an office in Geraldton.
It has previously counted the likes of former Labor minister Alannah MacTiernan and several retired and serving judges among its past lawyers.
In a social media post, Mr Gill said it was still a shock to be ending his time at the company after a wonderful 16 years with the law firm.
“What has made DD such a great place to work over such a long period has been the people,” he said in a LinkedIn post last week.
“We have so many talented lawyers and support staff who are now suddenly faced with uncertainty and having to re-home files and find themselves new jobs all in the space of 1.5 weeks.
“It's insane but, as always, we will get the job done.”