Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has boosted its China practice after hiring the former managing partner of Morrison & Foerster's Hong Kong practice.

Robert Woll joined the firm on 26 February as co-partner in change of its Beijing office alongside Lester Ross.

Woll is a corporate partner who specialises in M&A, private equity transactions, joint ventures and corporate governance issues. He advises private equity, venture capital and real estate investment funds on investments in China and elsewhere in Asia.

Commenting on the move, Wilmer Cutler co-managing partner William Perlstein said: "[Woll will bring] sophisticated private equity, venture capital and M&A expertise to our clients in a critical region of the world."

The firm's expansion in Asia comes with Wilmer Cutler suffering a series of setbacks to its European network in recent months. The firm announced earlier this year that its Oxford office is to close, while its City team was hit by the departure of several partners to US rival Heller Ehrman.

The firm also lost its eight-lawyer Munich arm when the team quit to set up a standalone practice.