Salans takes 14 lawyers off Haarmann for Shanghai

Salans last week continued its programme of ramping up internationally with a 14-lawyer raid on Haarmann Hemmelrath in Shanghai.

The group hire follows the firm's acquisition of Travers Smith's entire Berlin office, including partner Karl Pilny, which joined on 1 January.

Salans' Shanghai office now comprises four partners and 18 associates and other legal staff. The new Haarmann team, which includes corporate partners Bernd-Uwe Stucken and Dai Jun, strengthens its experience in M&A, real estate, tax and IP law.

The hires fit with the firm's strategy of focusing on emerging markets such as Russia, China and Central and Eastern Europe and linking them to the main financial centres in the West.

The most recent hires follow the capture of Haarmann's 13-partner Berlin office in January 2006, a deal that was instrumental in the move of the Shanghai team.

Salans London managing partner Stephen Finch said: "Having taken the Berlin office of Haarmann there was a level of comfort for the lawyers in Shanghai; we already knew of them and their capabilities."