Simmons & Simmons has announced that it is to shut down its Rotterdam base and merge its Netherlands operation into a single office in Amsterdam.

The firm already has 25 lawyers in the Dutch capital, and over the next two years around 75 lawyers will be transferred in stages to Amsterdam, before the Rotterdam office closes for business in 2011.

Netherlands managing partner Jean-Pierre van Leeuwe said: "It is our great desire for all staff members to come with us. Some people will live in the Rotterdam region and we will launch a program to aid relocation or aid with cost of public transport."

Simmons has been officially considering the closure of its Rotterdam base since September 2008 when it kicked of an internal consultation on the future of the office. The firm initially opened in Rotterdam in 2002 after a merger with local firm Nolst Trenite.

Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins added: "The new office will become an even stronger part of the firm's international network. The concentration of our resources in Amsterdam will help to boost our cross-border work."

The firm opened its Amsterdam office in January 2007, relocating its five-partner Dutch financial markets practice from Rotterdam to the capital.

The newly-combined office will focus largely on corporate, financial markets and dispute resolution, with the merger aimed at better servicing the firm's growing client base in Amsterdam.

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