Washington DC-based Hogan & Hartson’s Paris office has hired a labour and employment team from US rival Winston & Strawn.

Hogan signalled its intent to beef up its French offering last month when it took corporate partner Jean-Marc Franceschi from Jones Day. It has followed that by recruiting labour and employment partners Dominique Mendy and Thierry Meillat. The duo hopes to bring a team of experienced associates with it, but the makeup of that team has not yet been decided.

The firm ended an alliance with Cariddi Mee Rué in 2004 when the French firm linked up with Piper Rudnick (now DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary). Following the recruitment of Franceschi, Hogan flew William Curtin into Paris as strategic development partner to coordinate the firm’s ambitious expansion plans.

Curtin has wasted no time in recruiting the labour and employment team. For a firm so focused on regulation, it is important to have a strong labour and employment practice in France. Mendy and Meillat also have a fair amount of corporate experience and conduct general commercial litigation in addition to employment disputes.

Hogan’s plans for Paris mirror the firm’s London expansion, where it has grown from 10 lawyers to more than 40 in around two years.