The separation of national law firm DLA Phillips Fox and its Adelaide office has been finalised, but it won’t affect the company’s ability to handle insurance cases.

Earlier this month the Adelaide branch of DLA Phillips Fox merged with local corporate specialist Rankine Tucker to form Tucker Fox. The new firm has 70 staff and is now following its own strategic direction.

Managing Partner Joseph DeRuvo says the “financial separation” of the two firms happened 12 months ago. The full split was finalised earlier this month.

“We had different strategic visions from the national firm and the separation has been totally amicable,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “We have a very strong relationship with DLA Phillips Fox and I’m making sure our close connections are kept.”

He says insurance is “a large part of the SA practice”, and a number of lawyers within Tucker Fox are highly regarded specialists in various areas of insurance law.

“Having put the two firms together, we’ve also recently recruited the top mergers and acquisitions specialist in the state,” he said. “We intend to keep building the corporate/commercial team.”