Hammonds benefits from Veltins’ partner losses

Veltins, the German legal arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is continuing to lose partners to the hostile regulatory environment.

Corporate ace Klaus Gro-ssmann, a founding partner of PwC Veltins’ Munich office, has joined Hammonds’ three-year-old Munich office. Kai Mertens, Hammonds’ German head of corporate, said Grossmann’s skills in building a practice made him a valuable addition.

The Hammonds office was initially biased towards intellectual property (IP) and advises clients such as National Grid Transco on European patent work. In the spring it added private equity partner Hans Jörg Rotberg, who previously ran a venture capitalist firm.

Grossmann will focus on M&A and is expected to bring with him a strong client following of German  Mittelstand and international companies.

“Our strategy is to grow our corporate and private equity business and to add on areas such as employment,” said Mertens.

Hammonds also has a Berlin office and plans to open in Düsseldorf shortly. It has four equity and four salaried partners and 30 fee-earners in Germany.

Grossmann is the latest in a string of Veltins partners, including name partner Michael Veltins to return to conventional law firms.