Dewey & LeBoeuf has boosted its Paris arm with the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer finance veteran Michel Quere – continuing a run of senior appointments Dewey has made from the City giant in Paris.

Quere joins Dewey tomorrow (1 April) as the firm's first banking and finance partner in the French capital.

Quere became a partner at Freshfields in 1982 and headed the Paris finance group between 2000 and 2006. His practice covers areas including acquisition and leveraged finance, debt restructuring and private equity.

He said: "My decision to join Dewey & LeBoeuf was based on the firm's strategy and the desire to provide my clients with a global response to their issues, using the law to create value."

The news comes with international arbitration partner Eric Schwartz set to replace the retiring Yves Huyghe de Mahenge as managing partner of Dewey's Paris office.

Both de Mahenge and Schwartz joined from Freshfields in 2006. Bankruptcy partner Philippe Hameau, meanwhile, switched from the magic circle firm to the legacy LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & McRae early last year.

Dewey chairman Steven Davis commented: "We were hoping [de Mahenge] would stay two years, so it is a little bit shorter than that. But there was a lot of growth for the office during his time, which we were very pleased with. I don't think that there will be much difference [under Schwartz] because they worked together and were close friends."

He added: "We will continue to grow the Paris office, which is a little bit undersized at 40-45 lawyers. Which areas we will grow will depend on client demand, but corporate M&A and project development could see lateral hires."

Other partners to exit Freshfields' Paris arm in recent times include Jean L'Homme, who headed the firm's Paris projects group in the 1990s. He left the firm in February and began at the local office of Proskauer Rose this month.