Three of eleven partners appointed world wide by US firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey are based in the Prague office.

Prague is the firm's second largest European operation with over 70 staff concentrating largely on telecommunications privatisation and financing work.

One of the three new appointees is Dr. Lubos Tichy, the former president of the Czech Advocacy Bar, who has advised the former Czech Ministry of Privatisation and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as representing state and private corporations in business transactions.

Vladimira Papirnik, managing partner in Prague, described him as “a jack of all trades, and a good first port of call when faced with any problem relating to European Community, German or Czech law.”

The other two partners are John Behm, who joined the Prague office in 1993 is a specialist in telecommunications, privatisation and project finance, and John Clapp, who heads the firm's finance practice in Central and Eastern Europe, specialising in international securities and banking.

Papirnik said the appointments marked the growth of the firm's Prague-based operation and showed its commitment to Europe in general.