Greenberg Traurig storms into Europe

Miami law firm Greenberg Traurig has blasted into Europe by launching offices in Amsterdam and Zurich simultaneously.

The move follows the firm's decision to abandon plans to open a City office because of the overheated London market. Greenberg Traurig’s president and CEO, Cesar Alvarez, told The Lawyer that opening in London did not make sense because the compensation did not justify the running costs.

The Amsterdam office will be co-founded by Peter Roorda, formerly a senior partner and former member of the executive committee of Stibbe; Bernard Stuivinga, formerly chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Dutch M&A tax practice; and Peter van Langeveld, also former partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the Zurich office will be started by Swiss lawyers Markus Barmettler and Andreas Erb. Barmettler and Erb specialise in international tax and entertainment lawyers respectively.