Linklaters is set to lose a partner in Germany as Berlin-based real estate partner Jens Bock quits to join a local firm.

Bock is leaving the magic circle firm to join Clifford Chance (CC) spin-off Sammler Usinger, along with M&A counsel Thomas Rieger. The duo will both join Sammler as partners, with Bock making the move on 1 September and Rieger on 1 November.

The hires will take the number of partners at Sammler to 11 across its two offices in Berlin and Leipzig.

Sammler Volhard Breen Lange was founded in January 2002 when CC split with its Leipzig office. The firm added an office in Berlin in autumn 2006.

The firm changed its name on 1 May this year when it recruited CC real estate partner Wolfgang Usinger for its Berlin office.

Managing partner Wolfgang Sammler said: "The hires are an extension of our plans to expand our real estate department. We are a very strong player in the Berlin market and we want to build on this further. Jens and Thomas both have a perfect practice which will add to our existing competence."

Linklaters German practice secured a significant boost earlier this month with the hire of CC's most high-profile restructuring and insolvency partner, Kolja von Bismarck. The appointment will be seen as a key strategic move for Linklaters which, unlike CC and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has yet to establish a high-profile Germany restructuring practice.