A&O gains full-service contentious team as Herbert Smith sees further Paris departures

Herbert Smith's Paris litigation team has been hit by a three-partner walkout, with the trio's forthcoming departure to Allen & Overy (A&O) marking the latest in a string of exits from the City firm's French arm over the last 18 months.

Herbert Smith's recently appointed head of disputes for Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), Denis Chemla (pictured), is set to join A&O alongside arbitration partner Michael Young and litigation partner Erwan Poisson.

Chemla, who was only appointed as CEMEA disputes head at Herbert Smith earlier this month, is set to become head of dispute resolution at A&O in Paris, with the team hire handing A&O a full-service disputes practice in Paris. A&O already has litigation partners in Paris, but will gain arbitration expertise through Young's hire.

The team departures come after Paris corporate head Jacques Buhart left Herbert Smith in April to launch a French office for US firm McDermott Will & Emery. Meanwhile, Herbert Smith also lost a four-lawyer energy team led by partner Laurent Vandomme to Jones Day in April 2010, shortly after Paris banking head Georges Dirani left to become global general counsel at BNP Paribas.

Commenting on the hires, A&O global head of dispute resolution Tim House said: "From our perspective, Paris has been one of the places that we have wanted to develop into a full-service disputes practice for quite a while, and we've been very keen to find the right team to help us do that. We currently have very strong patents litigation and antitrust practices in France, but we were missing top tier dispute resolution partners in financial services, corporate, white collar crime and international arbitration. This move brings us first-rate partners in all those areas."

In a statement, Herbert Smith said: "We are disappointed – particularly given the strong year our Paris and global disputes practices have otherwise had. Both practices have real strength in depth and [we have] every confidence that they will bounce back from this."

One ex-Herbert Smith partner said: "The Paris office is extremely profitable and has grown in recent years, but there are a number of issues, including some partners who are too weak and more control needed in the office to make it more efficient. There is also a lack of team spirit and the office is currently divided into silos, which needs to change."