DLA Piper has bolstered its Munich office with the hire of a team of seven lawyers from Hogan Lovells.

International arbitration counsel Thomas Gadtke and commercial and regulatory senior associate Thilo von Bodungen will join DLA as partners, with their start date yet to be confirmed.

They will be joined by litigation senior associates Jan Bunnemann and Jonas Mark, commercial and regulatory senior associate Silke Hesse, real estate associate Jan-Ulf Suchomel and associate Peter Ruttman.

DLA Germany managing partner Ulrich Jungst commented: "We are very pleased to be able to further extend our Munich office. In particular, our litigation, regulatory, intellectual property and technology practice groups will profit from the good local network of our colleagues and offer us the opportunity of additional markets for growth."

Hogan Lovells has seen a string of departures from its German arm of late, the most recent being long-serving intellectual property partner Wolfgang Buchner, who announced last month (21 June) that he is leaving to join Jones Day.

Meanwhile, insurance specialist Jan Schroder also announced his departure from the firm's Duesseldorf office to join Allen & Overy (A&O) in June, becoming the fifth partner to join A&O from Hogan Lovells in Germany since May 2010.