Howrey's Europe intellectual property (IP) head and at least 11 other partners are departing to set up a new IP firm, citing client conflicts and poor workflow with the US side of the firm, reports The Am Law Daily.

Fourteen associates are also expected to leave to join the new firm, which will be called Hoyng Monegier.

Among the confirmed departures are name partners Denis Monegier du Sorbier and Willem Hoyng, the managing partner of Howrey Europe and a member of the firm's executive committee.

Other departures include Benoit Strowel, the head of the firm's European IP practice and one of Europe's best-known IP litigators, along with Amsterdam managing partner Bart van den Broek, Brussels IP head Carl de Meyer and Amsterdam partner Joris van Manen

Howrey's Amsterdam office has a total of seven partners, all of who specialise in IP, as well as 11 other counsel and associates. All are reported to be leaving. All four IP partners in the 40-lawyer Brussels office are also expected to leave.

One partner and a few associates are also leaving the Paris office, the firm confirmed.

The departing lawyers cite workflow problems between the US and Europe on IP matters, especially compared with the volume of US referral work they handled before joining Howrey.

Problems have been exacerbated by US conflict of interest rules, which have prevented them from taking on work they might have been free to pursue as partners with European-based firms. "You often have to turn away work here because of the more stringent conflicts rules in the US," says one partner.

The departures, which the firm says have yet to be finalised, call into question the unique global litigation model Howrey has trumpeted since it began expanding its core IP and antitrust practices in Europe nearly a decade ago.

"The fundamental reason we are doing it is we don't think the market is ready for a transatlantic model for IP," said one departing partner.

Howrey currently has 254 partners worldwide and roughly 550 lawyers spread across 18 offices. The firm concentrates exclusively on litigation and limits its focus mainly to three practice areas: IP, antitrust, and global litigation and dispute resolution.

Howrey opened its doors in Amsterdam in 2003, and is regarded as one of the leading US firm in Europe for intellectual property work.

The Brussels IP practice was founded in early 2005 with the arrival of De Meyer, the former head of Linklaters's Brussels office.

After the expected departures, Howrey's European IP practice will be left with just 10 IP partners spread across five European offices – two in Paris, three in Munich, two each in London and Madrid, and one in Duesseldorf.

Last year Howrey saw firmwide profits per equity partner fall by 35%. Robert Ruyak (pictured above), Howrey's CEO and chair, said last Wednesday (6 October) that the firm was embarking on a "restructuring" in Europe, with plans to grow in some areas of higher demand.

In addition to the twelve Howrey partners, five other as-yet-unnamed IP partners are set to join Hoyng Monegier from firms in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.

The Am Law Daily is a blog on law.com, Legal Week's US affiliate title.