Morgan Lewis to launch white-collar crime team

Morgan Lewis & Bockius is launching a French white-collar crime practice with the hire of former Rambaud Martel partner Thierry Dalmasso.

Dalmasso joined the US firm's Paris office on 16 January along with three associates. He was previously a partner at independent firm Rambaud Martel, which broke up after Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe announced that the two firms were to merge.

Morgan Lewis Paris managing partner Jean Leygonie said: "White-collar crime has a lot of synergies with what we do in corporate and banking and finance. It makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of the Paris office and also from the global standpoint of Morgan Lewis."

Leygonie said Dalmasso's hire was "mostly opportunistic", but that it would enable the firm to practise white-collar crime within Paris rather than referring it to local boutiques.

Dalmasso's work includes acting for Airbus on the investigation into the July 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde flight outside Paris. Other clients include large industrial companies and banks.