...as M&A expert quits for Baker & McKenzie

Rowe & Maw has lost its second partner this week, this time to Baker & McKenzie.

Bernd Ratzke, a corporate partner specialising in M&A and cross-border transactions at Rowe & Maw, is leaving the firm after 11 years.

Ratzke says: "Rowe & Maw has done extraordinarily well in the last few years, especially in corporate, and we have been able to pull in some very good clients.

"But it is becoming a global marketplace and when you are approached by a firm with a global presence you do re-evaluate if a mid-tier firm is correctly positioned."

Commenting on the close proximity of Ratzke's and Devas' departures, a spokesman at Rowe & Maw says: "I think it is a consequence of the marketplace. They are two entirely unrelated departures."

He adds: "Hugh wanted to do something that we couldn't offer him here and as for Bernd, he has always been a corporate cross-border M&A lawyer.

"Baker & McKenzie has scope in a greater capacity because of its place in the international market."

He says that Rowe & Maw will be replacing Ratzke.

Russell Lewin, managing partner at Baker & McKenzie, says: "Corporate is an important practice area for us and it is one we are investing a lot of resources in across the firm."