The Brussels office of US firm Dechert Price & Rhoads has been dealt a blow by the loss of its EU telecommunications team, including leading telecommunications lawyer Bernard Amory.
Amory, a Belgian lawyer, has joined the Brussels office of US-firm Jones Day Reavis & Pogue.
He was joined by Decherts' two other EU and telecommunications lawyers – senior associate Isabelle Rahman, who is qualified in France and England, and senior associate Alexandre Verheyden, who is qualified in Brussels and the US.
Amory said most of his clients were going with him to Jones Day. He added: “Generally clients have been very supportive of the move.”
Managing partner of Decherts in Brussels Rick Temko said it was disappointing to lose the EU telecommunications team but the office would remain “very profitable”.
“Clearly Bernard took business with him, but the departure of those lawyers and the work that they do really had negligible impact on the work done in the rest of the office,” he said.
“It's always disappointing when lawyers leave a firm, particularly when they're good lawyers you've worked with for a long time.”
He said the firm was recruiting and anticipated growing back to eight lawyers by June.
Amory left Decherts once before to join the competition directorate of the European Commission, where he was in charge of the telecommunications and postal sectors for about two years.
He returned as a partner at Decherts in 1991, where he handled European competition law work with a strong emphasis on the telecommunications industry.
Amory joins Jones Day's government regulations group as a partner in the anti-trust and trade regulation section.
“Jones Day is a firm which has a much bigger international reputation and presence,” said Amory. “There are very few firms which have such a geographic spread and for the type of client I am representing I felt it would be useful to be in a firm which is truly international.”
“The departure was done on very good terms,” he added.
