Crowell & Moring has bolstered its London arm with the hire of Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll's former European managing partner Rob Murray.

Murray joined the firm's antitrust litigation practice last month after leaving Cohen Milstein in February, when the office rebranded as Hausfeld.

Murray will be responsible for building Crowell's European antitrust litigation practice across the London and Brussels offices, becoming the sole London antitrust partner alongside two counsel and a senior associate.

The move comes as Crowell attempts to replicate its US civil litigation success, where the firm acts for both defendants and claimants, in the UK.

Murray, who initially launched Cohen Milstein's City arm, said: "The firm's investment in me is part of the expansion of its European competition dispute resolution practice. Crowell remains a defence-orientated firm but one which has a deep understanding of  both sides, giving us significant competitive advantage in the market, whichever side of a matter our clients  find themselves."

With Murray's hire, Crowell has five full-time partners in the City, as well as 13 other lawyers.  At the end of April Crowell brought in corporate partner Timothy Leeson from LG. Leeson's hire came in the same month that Crowell lost corporate partners Paul Finlan and Gary Laitner to Faegre & Benson.