Ashurst makes rare Hengeler hire

Ashurst Germany has enticed a corporate counsel away from Hengeler Mueller, Slaughter & May’s German best friend.

Claudia Junker will join Ashurst’s equity partnership in its Frankfurt office’s corporate department, reported German magazine Juve.

Hengeler has famously never lost a partner to a rival but that at a more junior level “it can happen that people move away of their own initiative”, explained Rainer Krause of Hengeler.

Ashurst in Germany now counts 20 partners spread over Frankfurt and Munich.

Ashurst’s German corporate practice, which Junker has joined, has recently seen a return to form. For example, the firm now advises Commerzbank in its bid for Landesbank Berlin and Norisbank.

In 2007 the Munich office of Ashurst hired the head of Siemens’ M&A department, Lutz Englisch, as a partner.

Krause said that the Hengeler rated Junker highly and wished her well at Ashurst.

Ashurst’s German managing partner Simon Beddow said he was delighted to welcome her to the team.