DLA Piper raids DWS to mark Paris renaissance

DLA Piper has boosted its Paris office with the hire of two partners from Denton Wilde Sapte’s French arm, marking the sixth partner hire for the branch this month.

Corporate partners François Serres and Lionel Koehler-Magne have jumped firms together, bringing with them their M&A, restructuring, and litigation practices.

Bruce Mee, managing partner of DLA’s operations in France, said: “Building a strong corporate practice in line with our capabilities in other markets is key to our success and continued growth in Paris.”

He added: “We are committed to our expansion plans and with the appointments of François and Lionel and others in the months to come we intend to strengthen our capabilities across all practice areas.”

Serres and Koehler-Magne are the latest in a string of partner level hires for DLA in Paris. This month the firm hired three partners from Proskauer Rose as well as tax partner Philippe de Guyenro from Landwell.

A Dentons spokesperson said the firm recruited a new corporate partner, Emmanuel Vergnaud, from Ashurst in October 2006 and is developing the corporate practice in Paris.