White & Case has lost its 13th partner to Latham & Watkins, with Doha-based M&A specialist Andrew Macklin becoming the latest to switch between the two firms.

Macklin, who made partner at White & Case in January 2009 after joining the firm in 2005, relocated to Doha in October last year to head up the US firm's new office in the region.

His departure leaves the newly-launched base with just one associate.

The hire of Macklin is a further boost for Latham's Middle East practice following the arrivals of corporate partner Villiers Terblanche and energy and infrastructure partner Nick Collins – who will join the firm in Abu Dhabi – alongside projects partners Christopher Langdon and Mohammed Al-Sheikh.

A statement from White & Case said: "We remain committed to Qatar and we will shortly identify the partner who will take over the leadership of that office. We will continue with our existing plans, in place since we launched the Doha office last year, to transfer associates to the office during 2010 to provide it with additional strength."

The news caps off a rocky week for White & Case, which began last Friday with the departures of London bank finance co-head Chris Kandel along with partners Sam Hamilton, Brian Conway and Jayanthi Sadanandan.