EC diplomat to advise US firm Hogans

US firm Hogan & Hartson has hired the head of the European Commission's Washington delegation as a senior adviser.

Hugo Paemen will support the firm's six European offices, including its London operation.

He will split his time between Hogans' Washington DC base and the firm's Brussels office. He will advise US and European companies on dealing with the EU and trade and investment matters.

Clayton Yeutter, of counsel at Hogan & Hartson and a former US trade representative, says: "Paemen is a brilliant diplomat and one of the world's most gifted and respected trade negotiators. His international trade knowledge is encyclopedic."

Paemen became head of the Washington delegation in 1995. He is the second senior EU official to become an adviser to a law firm in the last two months.

In October Herbert Smith announced that former EU vice-president Sir Leon Brittan would be joining the firm in January.