In a busy week for Paris team hires, Reed Smith has taken on three partners from Winston & Strawn, while US firm Ogletree Deakins has launched its first French office with partner hires from Hogan Lovells and Olswang.
Reed Smith announced today (2 March) that it has hired an eight-lawyer team in Paris. The move includes three partners, Jean-Pierre Collet, Florence Bilger and David Colin, alongside three counsel, one associate and one jurist all joining from Winston & Strawn.
This brings Reed Smith’s Paris office to 66 lawyers, including 22 partners, and expands the Paris tax practice from eight to 16 lawyers. Collet was Winston’s head of tax in Paris, while Bilger and Colin focus on investment funds and entrepreneurs, providing tax advice on corporate transactions, as well as disputes and general tax advice.
The move comes after Reed Smith hired 18 lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in January this year. The firm rebuilt its ranks in Paris after last year it lost several partners in that office, including corporate partners Lucas D’orgeval and Emmanuel Vergnaud, now co-founders of Volt Associes, Alexandre Tron and Stephane Letranchant who also left later in the year to join Volt, and Anker Sorensen who left to join De Gaulle Fleurance & Associates.
‘Following on from our recent hires across corporate, tax and private equity from KWM, these additions of talented French lawyers help us provide a truly cross border transactional service to our clients,’ commented Tamara Box, managing partner for Europe and the Middle East (pictured).
Meanwhile, Olswang and Hogan Lovells partners Karine Audouze and Jean-Marc Albiol will open a third European office for US law firm Ogletree Deakins, alongside a team of 11 lawyers and staff. The firm’s presence also includes Berlin and London.
Audouze, an employment lawyer, will be the office managing partner, and was at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton before joining Olswang. The launch comes as Olswang’s Paris office was closed this week following the three-way merger announced in September. In 2015 the office turned over £5m, and lawyers from the office had been without permanent accommodation after the lease expired at the start of this year. Several other lawyers have already left, including tax partner Julien Monsenego, who joined Gowling WLG, while office head Guillaume Kessler joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk