Dechert has announced that it is to launch in Moscow with the hire of a five-partner team from US rival Chadbourne & Parke, despite a last-ditch effort from Chadbourne to persuade the partners to remain with the firm.

The team includes the managing partner of Chadbourne's Moscow and St Petersburg offices, Laura Brank, who also heads up the firm's Russia and CIS practice.

Brank is set to join Dechert along with energy partner Shane DeBeer, banking and finance partner Jennifer Handz, project finance partner Konstantin Konstantinov and litigation partner Mikhail Rozenberg.

However, a Chadbourne spokesperson told Legal Week that discussions with the partners were continuing and that "the final outcome is not yet certain."

Dechert is planning to launch the Moscow office next month, with all of the partners based in the Russian capital but with Brank and DeBeer splitting their time between Moscow and London.

Dechert chairman Bart Winokur commented: "Laura, Shane, Jennifer, Konstantin, and Mikhail are intrepid, entrepreneurial, and trusted to chart the way in challenging terrain. Their talent and knowledge of a vast and important region adds tremendous energy and resources to Dechert, and we are just delighted to have them on our team."

The new Moscow base follows office launches for Dechert in both Hong Kong and Beijing last year.

Chadbourne had 480 lawyers in its network of13 offices before it cut 25 lawyers in a global redundancy round in March. The firm also implemented a recruitment freeze last October.