Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has emphasised its international status as the London-based firm announced it would appoint more partners in Germany than in the UK this year. This is believed to be the first time a UK firm has appointed more partners in a single foreign market than in its home base.

The firm last week announced that it has made up 11 partners in its German offices, taking the firm's partnership to 506 from 1 May. That figure compares to just nine partnerships handed out in the UK.

The move underlines the size of Freshfields in Germany following the 2000 merger with Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Loeber and undermines claims that the all-equity partnership of Freshfields would have to be cut back to compensate for the higher profitability of the firm's London practice.