Clifford Chance's (CC's) UK litigation head Nicholas Munday has been seconded to the firm's Moscow office in a bid to strengthen and expand the disputes team in the region.

Munday (pictured), who is responsible for overseeing the firm's Moscow and UK litigation practice, has been charged with expanding the two-partner, eight associate team in the country through a mixture of lateral hiring and organic growth.

The move is also intended to help standardise client handling across London and Moscow, with the firm set to increase lawyer travel between the two offices when representing Russian clients in disputes.

Munday has been spending three weeks a month in Russia since the beginning of the year, with the secondment expected to continue until at least the end of March. He previously spent one week each month in the Moscow office.

Munday said: "We have a big team of contentious partners working on Russian disputes, given that a predominant number of international Russian businesses use English law. I wanted to make sure the team, split across Russia and London, acts as one and make sure a similar approach is being taken when dealing with client matters."

He added: "I am also having a lot of fun in Moscow building client relationships and litigating. I expect more litigation partners to move to places where we can really make a big impact."

In September CC appointed Amsterdam head Jan ter Haar as its new Moscow managing partner, after current incumbent Michael Cuthbert announced his plans to retire from the firm at the end of the year.