Hammonds is considering pulling out of Munich in the wake of Eversheds' hire of most of the office's lawyers.

Hammonds has been reviewing its Munich business since April and was expected to reach a final decision as Legal Week went to press.

The firm stressed that if it decides to close the office altogether, the decision would be based on the review findings and not the recent departures.

Last month, office head Herbert Kunz and partner Michael Schneider joined Eversheds to launch a patent litigation practice – leaving litigation partner Philipp Suess as the only remaining partner at Hammonds' Munich arm. Eversheds has subsequently picked up a further three lawyers, with litigation associate Hosea Haag joining the Munich office as a partner alongside two associates.

Hammonds has operated in both Munich and Berlin, which has 31 fee earners, since April 2001. German management was overhauled earlier this year with German corporate head Kai Mertens replacing Frank Walter-von Gierke after eight years at the helm.

There have also been changes in the Berlin partnership in recent months, with German head of property, planning and construction Martin Fleckenstein switching to local independent Sammler Usinger.

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