Our Story

The merger of 2 established firms

Hillhouse Burrough McKeown Lawyers was formed in 1991 through the merger of two established Brisbane firms, Hillhouse Burrough & Whitton with Shaw McKeown Bowers Solicitors.

This merger extended our mutual culture and focus on providing expert and efficient support to small to medium businesses and individuals to help with their varied and changing legal needs.

Our heritage and changes over time

The partners in the merged firm were Ian Hillhouse, David Burrough, Rick Whitton, John McKeown and Michael Bowers. In 1998 Michael Bowers left to pursue a career outside the law. In 2004 Rick Whitton sadly passed away at age 49 after a battle with cancer. In 2011 John McKeown retired. Our consulting meeting rooms are named in recognition of their service to our firms and clients.

Succession and positioning for a long future

In 2018, after practising as business owners for over 30 years, Ian Hillhouse and David Burrough transitioned to consultants. At the same time the firm rebranded as Hillhouse Legal Partners.

With change has come opportunity to strengthen and diversify, with our firm attracting experienced talent across many legal disciplines along with many new clients. Our capability sees us expanding to support a broad client base of all sizes from individuals through to Australian and overseas listed companies.

Today's Hillhouse

Today, our Managing Director Zac Herps leads the team alongside Directors Craig Hong and Robert Lamb. Each Director shares a long history at Hillhouse, and they are committed to the values of achieving expert and efficient outcomes for our clients. We are simply strategic.