Allen & Overy's (A&O's) Dutch arm has agreed to pay out €2.5m (£1.7m) to settle a dispute with a group of former Loeff Claeys Verbeke partners as the magic circle firm moves to resolve the long-running wrangle over its Dutch launch.

The settlement was agreed this month following a lengthy arbitration.

The dispute between a group of approximately 25 former Loeff Claeys partners and the magic circle firm arose five years ago when the London giant launched in Amsterdam with the hire of 36 partners from the Benelux firm.