Partners are hopping from firm to firm in Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia, as a booming mining sector and closed borders during the COVID-19 pandemic create surging demand for resources and infrastructure lawyers.

This year has seen lawyers in the west coast Australian city, 3,300 km from Sydney, leave or join such firms as Ashurst, Norton Rose Fulbright, King & Wood Mallesons, HFW and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.