Specialist shipping firm Thomas Copper & Stibbard is to launch in a new office in Paris following the hire of a three-partner shipping team from the local arm of Reed Smith Richards Butler, including the US firm's local managing partner.

Lars Lewis, who had headed the legacy Richards Butler's Paris office since 2002, will join Thomas Cooper next month alongside local shipping head Peter Iglikowski and shipping partner Christophe Hunkeler.

Lewis, who specialises in shipping, international trade and energy law and is dual-qualified in the UK and France, will head up Thomas Cooper's Paris operation. Iglikowski is also dual-qualified, and acts for ship owners, major oil companies and banks, particularly in Greece, France and Eastern Europe. Hunkeler specialises in shipping disputes.