DLA Piper bolsters Moscow with more Coudert hires

DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has made another raid on Coudert Brothers, this time taking two partners from its Moscow office.

Pavel Bakoulev and Igor Panshensky will join DLA Piper’s Moscow office from the 1 November bringing with them two associates.

Constantine Lusignan-Rizhinashvili, regional managing partner for Russia and the CIS said in a statement: "Pavel and Igor will be an excellent boost to our practice in Russia. These appointments are in line with our intention to position ourselves with a market leading oil and gas practice. The energy sector is a strategic priority for us and key to providing a full and comprehensive service offering in this market."

Bakoulev has experience of the oil and gas market in Russia and the CIS. He spent nine years at his previous firm advising on upstream oil and gas, Russian production sharing agreements and subsoil legislation, as well as on corporate and commercial matters.

Panshensky is a corporate and commercial lawyer with experience advising on natural resources projects and anti-trust issues as well as joint ventures, M&A, corporate structuring and contracts.

The appointment follows DLA Piper’s recent expansion of its Russia and CIS practice. In July the firm took over EY Law's 87-lawyer CIS operation. The move gave DLA Piper the St Petersburg and Moscow offices of EY Law and a presence in Ukraine and Georgia for the first time.

DLA Piper has been quick to snap up lawyers and offices from Coudert Brothers since its decision to wind up operations including those in Belgium, China, Germany, Japan and Singapore.