US firm Latham & Watkins has relocated senior New York partner Jack Walker to Germany to integrate its newly acquired Hamburg and Frankfurt practice from the now-defunct Gaedertz.

Walker, a tax and finance specialist, has been with Lathams since 1971 and was the firm's chairman and managing partner from 1988 to 1994.

Walker will be based in Hamburg and will work with Christoph von Teichman, a Gaedertz partner and recently appointed managing partner of both the new German offices.

Lathams has 40 German lawyers, with the majority in their original Gaedertz base of Hamburg.

The Los Angeles-based Lathams has also installed about 75 US and English-qualified lawyers in its London office and is looking at expanding in other key European jurisdictions such as Italy.

Although the firm has depth in Hamburg, Lathams is focusing on building its Frankfurt office, which is essential to serving its US clients' M&A and financing needs.

The Frankfurt office will open with five German lawyers and two US associates. Teichman said he wanted to see the Frankfurt office grow to about 15 German lawyers by the end of the year.

The news comes as Gaedertz partners this month voted to break up its offices, giving the green light for Norton Rose and Chicago's Mayer Brown & Platt to also officially launch their own practices with former Gaedertz offices.

Mayer Brown managed to secure all but two of Gaedertz's Frankfurt-based partners, providing the firm with 20 partners and a significant presence in Germany's banking capital.