Washington DC firm Crowell & Moring has formed a Central and Eastern European (CEE) alliance with three law firms to capitalise on last month's accession of 10 states to the European Union (EU).

The 'EU accession team' of top 10 Polish firm Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka, the Czech Republic's Peterka & Partners and Hungarian firm Hayhurst Robinson, came into effect this month.

Crowell's London-based partner and head of its accession team Nick Towle told Legal Week that the CEE alliances had been formed to service the firm's clients with interests in the region.