Hammonds has lost its third Brussels partner in less than six months, it has emerged, leaving the national firm with only three full-time partners in the competition law hub.

Jonathan Branton, who specialises in European Union and competition law, left Hammonds on 1 March and is set to join Irish firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice in Dublin next month.

Branton's departure leaves Hammonds with three full-time partners in the Brussels office – Tom Pick, Steven Geerlings and office head Konstantinos Adamantopoulos. Competition head David O'Keeffe splits his time between London and Brussels.

The news represents the third partner loss in recent month for Hammonds' Brussels arm, with local competition head Jose Rivas and European law partner Edward Borovikov quitting the firm at the end of last year. Adamantopoulos also handed in his notice but later decided to stay.

Those departures followed the introduction of new partnership measures brought in last summer which restrict partners to handing in their notice on just two days each year – 31 March or 30 September.

Adamantopoulos said: "We are very sorry to see [Branton] go and wish him the very best of luck."

Meanwhile, Matheson has also hired partner Tom Hayes from UK healthcare firm Capsticks. Hayes, who joined the firm earlier this week, will head Matheson's healthcare practice.