Hogan Lovells has seen a second departure from its Moscow office this week with dispute resolution partner Dominic Pellew joining Baker Botts.

Pellew is set to join the US firm as a partner in its arbitration practice on Monday (9 August). He joined legacy Lovells from Herbert Smith in 2007 as the firm's sole disputes partner in Moscow.

Pellew's move comes after corporate partner Suren Gortsunyan also left Hogan Lovells' Moscow office earlier this week to join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Pellew said: "The quality of the individuals that I have come to know at Baker Botts is extremely high, the arbitration practice is excellent and their Russian client base is astonishing.

"When they made it clear to me that they wanted to have me on board it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up."

A Hogan Lovells spokesperson said: "Our domestic Russian litigation capability in the Moscow office remains the same, while our international litigation and arbitration work will continue to be led out of London where we have numerous litigators and partners heavily engaged in disputes arising out of the Russian market."

The news marks the third recent departure from Hogan Lovells' Moscow office after corporate partner Ilya Rybalkin left in May to join Akin Gump.