Celebrating 140 Years of Maddocks

1885

John Henry Maddock, 28, and Arthur James Johnson, 21, both newly admitted to the Victorian Bar, join together on 1 August 1885 and set up the firm that is to become Maddocks. Early clients included financial institutions and property developers.

1892

Charles Jamieson joins the firm, which changes its name to Maddock, Johnson & Jamieson. Mr Jamieson’s work in regional Victoria spurs the establishment of offices across the state, including Korumburra in 1895 and Daylesford in 1897.

1903

William Ah Ket joins Maddock, Johnson & Jamieson and completes his articled clerkship. William is one of the first people of Chinese background to practise as a solicitor in Australia. He joined the Victorian Bar in 1904 and was a barrister until his death in 1936.

Find out more about the William Ah Ket Sponsorship.

1909 

Andrew McGregor Lonie joins the firm, establishing a link between the Lonie family and the firm that will span three generations and more than 80 years. The firm is renamed Maddock, Jamieson & Lonie.

1940

Lyston Arthur Chisholm joins the firm as a partner. This starts a connection between the Chisholm family that continued into the 21st century. The firm subsequently becomes Maddock Lonie & Chisholm, a name that continues until 2004.

1970

Jean Alcorn is the first woman to be appointed a Partner of the firm. In 2022, 39 per cent of our Partners are women. Jean was a pioneer in legal rights for nurses, and delivering seminars on these topics in 1966.

1990

Managing Partner John Chisholm, Chairman Ian Lonie and Partner and Executive Member David Laidlaw spearhead the firm’s expansion and introduces equal partnership shares. The Commercial, Property, Construction and Workplace Services teams expand their remits. These changes see a 77 per cent increase in revenue between 1994 and 1996.

1998

The firm streamlines its objectives and adopts five core values. These values, which remain to this day, are:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Commitment to doing things better
• Respect for the individual and diversity
• Stewardship

This comes one year after Maddocks launches the Maddocks Women’s Network, with the aim of increasing the participation of women in networking activities and professional development.

For more information, visit Maddocks Women.

2002

Maddocks Lonie & Chisholm begins its national expansion with its first premises in Sydney. By this stage, the firm has grown to more than 200 staff, including more than 20 partners.

2004

Maddock Lonie & Chisholm engages in a major rebrand, part of which includes changing the firm’s name to Maddocks. The rebrand also sees the introduction of the firm’s distinctive logo.

2012

Maddocks opens its Canberra office. This is an important step for servicing Commonwealth Government clients and builds on the firm’s considerable government expertise.

2014

Michelle Dixon is appointed as the firm’s CEO, the first woman to hold the position in the firm’s history. Michelle was head of the firm’s Commercial Disputes team (now Dispute Resolution & Litigation) at the time of her appointment.

2020

David Newman is appointed as the firm’s CEO. Since joining Maddocks in 2000, David has held a range of leadership positions and has made a significant contribution to the firm through his involvement in developing Maddocks’ innovation strategy.

2022 

Maddocks undertakes a strategic review of services with consideration of the external environment and changing needs of clients, updating its business strategy and vision to The Modern Australian Law Firm.

2025

Maddocks celebrates 140 years in service. Since our inception on 1 August 1885, Maddocks has transformed to a firm of over 700 staff. Today we act for a large number of major corporate clients, multinational investors and government clients.