Norton Rose has lost a second senior lawyer to a US firm in a matter of weeks.
Senior intellectual property (IP) assistant Pierre-Andre Dubois has jumped ship to join the London office of US law firm Brobeck Hale & Dorr as a partner.
Dubois, a dual Canadian- and English-qualified solicitor, has been appointed head of intellectual property and biotechnology and is the office's third partner.
He has been charged with expanding the department and said he would be recruiting two more partners in March.
Brobecks is a specialist IT firm, and its decision to expand in London comes hard on the heels of Washington IT firm Shaw Pittman Plotts & Trowbridge's move to the capital to take advantage of an expected wave of IT outsourcing work.
Dubois was only at Norton Rose for a year and a half, having joined the firm from the Montreal office of US firm Ogilvy Renault, where he was a partner. He said he was attracted to Brobecks' expertise in the IP and IT fields.
Brobecks managing partner David Ayers said: "Pierre-Andre brings specialist IP and IT skills to our very strong cross border North American and European technology practice."
A Norton Rose spokesman said: "He was a valuable member of the team and we wish him all the best in his new role."
Last week Legal Week reported Norton Rose project finance partner Jamie Logie's departure to US firm Sullivan & Cromwell.