Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has strengthened its Paris public law practice with the hire of a trio of lawyers from Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker led by partner Pascal Cuche.

The team, which is due to join Freshfields on 4 April, also includes Marc Lordonnois, who was a partner at Paul Hastings but is joining Freshfields as counsel, and senior associate Karine Debaecker.

The trio joined Paul Hastings in early 2008 from Ashurst, where they were associates.

Cuche, who sits within Paul Hastings' corporate practice, specialises in public-private partnership (PPP) projects and other infrastructure deals.

Freshfields said the public law team would complement the firm's finance, corporate and environmental law offerings in France.

Paris managing director Antoine Colonna D'Istria said: "The French state, public entities and publically owned or part-owned companies are major players in the French economy so we regard it as key to be able to service this client base as well as our clients who interact with them."

Freshfields global finance head Alan Newton added: "Public law matters are an integral component of many transactions in the French market and are often a critical initial issue in structuring or assessing the feasibility of a transaction. This is especially so on PPP and infrastructure transactions where Pascal and his team have considerable expertise."