Goodwin Procter is to open its first office in Paris after hiring a four-partner team from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM).
KWM Paris managing partner and corporate co-head Christophe Digoy will join the US firm for its French launch, as well as three other members of his corporate team.
Partners Maxence Bloch, Jérôme Jouhanneaud and Thomas Maitrejean are all set to build up Goodwin Procter’s Paris office after completing their notice periods, having joined legacy SJ Berwin from Clifford Chance in 2003.
Fellow KWM partners Pierre-Louis Sévegrand and William Robert are also expected to join Goodwin Procter in due course.
The quartet’s departure follows that of finance partner Olivier Vermeulen, who quit for Paul Hastings earlier this year. However KWM also hired in Paris recently, taking a real estate team from Jones Day led by partner Jean-Louis Martin.
The news comes nearly six months after Goodwin Procter hired an Ashurst quartet for its Frankfurt launch, which was the US firm’s first office in mainland Europe.
The departures from KWM also follow the announcement that KWM is cutting 15 per cent of its partnership in the UK, Europe and Middle East as part of a strategic restructure of its operations.
Last year in London, KWM lost another corporate co-head Richard Lever, who left to launch Goodwin Procter’s private equity practice.
He was joined a month later by private equity colleague Simon Fulbrook, while KWM looked to grow its own corporate practice with the hire of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson partner Laura Brunnen.