Chris Russell and Rahul Lobo join KordaMentha as partners
The forensics and cybersecurity teams of KordaMentha have been boosted through two new partner recruits: Chris Russell and Rahul Lobo.
Home-grown advisory KordaMentha has poached another two leaders for its expanding business, with former FTI Consulting managing director Chris Russell and EY associate partner Rahul Lobo joining as partners in the firm’s respective forensics and cybersecurity practices – both which are currently growing.
Together the two new partners bring close to four decades worth of combined consulting experience.
An eDiscovery specialist, Chris Russell joins KordaMentha in Melbourne after a decade with FTI, including the past three years as a managing director, before which he spent six and a half years as a director with Deloitte. During his two-decade career, Russell has amassed significant experience in managing complex eDiscovery projects related to litigation, arbitration, investigation and regulatory compliance.
Described as an expert in legal technology specialised in efficient and defensible strategies using tech-assisted review, data analytics, and document review technologies, Russell has provided consultancy for clients in several areas of litigation and investigations such as class actions and Royal Commissions and across multiple industries including financial services, mining, construction, and education.
“We have seen an increased demand across investigations, incident response and digital forensics to support our cyber and financial crime services,” said KordaMentha forensic technology lead Brendan Read in highlighting the need for specialist skills. “Chris brings a strong expertise in eDiscovery and will work closely with the forensic service line to support the strategic growth of the practice.”
Also based out of Melbourne, Rahul Lobo joins KordaMentha as a partner after spending the past 18 years with Ernst & Young’s tech consulting division, where he rose to associate partner. Kicking off his career with a brief stint at Deloitte, Lobo has worked across numerous specialty areas, including cloud security, cyber architecture, vulnerability management and attack and penetration testing.
“The evolving regulatory landscape around privacy, data security and integrity breaches continues to increase demand for cyber and financial crime expertise,” said KordaMentha partner Chris Martin, who was recently appointed president of the Turnaround Management Association. “Rahul brings expertise from his expansive career, allowing KordaMentha to stay at the forefront of cybersecurity advisory.”
KordaMentha stated that the new appointments are in line with an increasing client focus on integrity, governance and compliance, with the firm busy bolstering its service lines. In addition to recruiting a trio of PwC real estate leaders, the firm has also recently welcomed a further three forensics partners, including Adam Simms and Andrew Howard via BDO, and former KPMG director Peter Chapman.
