European moves: International firms’ power play

International firms including Dentons, Dechert, Bird & Bird and K&L Gates have been making strategic additions in Europe throughout Q3 2016, expanding in key locations.

But the majority of the hires have been from other international firms, with many picking off key players to add depth of capability to their European offering.

Bird & Bird was one of the most active firms in the quarter, with three hires and one loss, to Polish IT and tech boutique Maruta Wachta, which added former Bird & Bird Warsaw managing partner Maciej Gawroński as a partner.

The most active locations were Germany and Italy, both boosted by recent office launches in the region.

After launching in Munich earlier this year, K&L Gates has bolstered its Germany offering with Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle partner Thilo Winkeler. Winkeler will be based in the firm’s Berlin office and will work within the firm’s corporate practice.

Bird & Bird has added Uexküll & Stolberg partners Felix Landry and Felix Harbsmeier as partners in its Hamburg office. Both focus on patent law.

Meanwhile, McDermott Will & Emery has hired Henrik Holzapfel as a partner in its Dusseldorf office. Holzapfel was previously an IP partner at Gleiss Lutz.

K&L Gates has boosted its employment team in Milan with the addition of Roberto Podda as a partner in its employment team. Podda joins from Grande Sevens Studio Legale, where he was a partner for over three years.

Fieldfisher has made three additions to its Milan office, led by Osborne Clarke partner and former head of life sciences Diogo Rigatti. He joins alongside senior associate Pietro Giorgio Castronovo and trainee Filippo Attanasio. All three specialise in contentious intellectual property.

Dentons has continued its hiring spree in Italy after launching two offices earlier this year, with the addition of banking and finance partner Alessandro Fosco Fagotto as head of the practice. He joins from Italian firm Pedersoli along with a team of five, including senior associates Edoardo Galeotti and Franco Paolo Gialloreti and associate Silvia Cammalleri.

UK firm Holman Fenwick Willan made two additions. In Switzerland, BNP Paribas in-house lawyer Olivier Bazin will join Holman Fenwick Willan as a partner at its Geneva office. Bazin, who is set to join in January 2017, is a finance lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in trade, commodities and emerging markets.

In Paris, the firm has hired Orrick finance lawyer Diana de Moüy as a partner, joining alongside associate Olivia Crouzat who was in her team at Orrick.

Also in France, Bird & Bird added a partner in its Paris-based corporate and life sciences group with the hire of Redlink partner Emmanuelle Porte. She was previously at Nixon Peabody.

Dechert has added partner Sabina Comis to join its Paris office. Comis joins from Mayer Brown, where she was a tax partner for nine years and was the co-lead of the investment funds group.

Gide Loyrette Nouel associate Béatrice Fleuris has left the firm to join De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés as a partner in its Paris office. Fleuris’ practice focuses on the transport sector, advising large corporations and companies in their litigation procedures.

Losses continue for CMS Cameron McKenna ahead of next year’s tripartite merger with Nabarro and Olswang. CMS partner Olga Vorozhbyt has joined DLA Piper in Ukraine to head the firm’s litigation and regulatory practice in the region. She was a dispute and compliance partner for over two years at her previous firm.

In Russia, Baker Botts has added Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Moscow head Ivan Marisin and partner Vasily Kuznetsov as partners in its Moscow office. Their practice focuses on international and domestic dispute resolution.

Ashurst losses continued on the continent with Simmons & Simmons hiring Brussels managing partner Carl Meyntjens as a partner in the corporate and commercial team. Meyntjens will join alongside of counsel Kelly Cherretté.

While Spain stayed silent on the lateral hires front, Portugal saw some activity. Miranda & Associados added a two-lawyer team from Cuatrecasas Golçalves Pereira in Lisbon. Partner Diogo Nobre will co-head Miranda’s employment practice alongside Nuno Gouveia, while consultant Joana Vasconcelos will be of counsel.

Iberian firm Garrigues has recruited Jorge Salvador Gonçalves from his own practice associated to Portuguese firm Jardim Sampaio Magalhães e Silva e Associados, where he worked for three years after leaving Linklaters. At his new firm, Salvador Gonçalves will be in charge of the real estate department.

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