Shearman loses partner in Germany - again

Shearman and Sterling has lost another partner in Germany, leaving its Munich office with just one partner.

Tax partner Thomas Fox is to join Latham & Watkins in Munich soon, following the recent departure of tax partner Gottfried Breuninger and M&A partner Astrid Krüger to Allen & Overy (The Lawyer, 17 September).

Shearman's German co-managing partner, Hans Jürgen Meyer Lindemann, said: "We remain committed to Munich 100 per cent... It is completely logical that we will continue to be close to Munich. We have an incredibly strong client base there, with clients such as Hypo Real Estate, Allianz and others."

Fox said that his decision to join Latham's occurred independently of Breuninger and Krüger. "There were several reasons for leaving," he said. "Latham is a young team and their platform is international. Andreas Diems [who had also left Shearman to join Latham], and those whom I have met seem very friendly."

Shearman will replenish its Munich ranks by relocating tax partner Johannes Frey from Frankfurt. He will join M&A partner Markus Rieder and M&A counsel Winfried Carli, who is expected to be made up in the next partnership round.