Two senior Bird & Bird partners have left the firm's Paris office to join Salans in the French capital.

Intellectual property (IP) partner Isabelle Leroux and tax partner Anne Quenedey joined Salans on 1 September, bringing with them three associates each as well as one counsel.

Leroux, who specialises in trademark, copyright, design and patent contentious matters, had co-headed Bird & Bird's French IP practice for more than 10 years. Before joining Bird & Bird in 2001, she was a partner at French firm Dubarry Le Douarin Veil & Associes.

Meanwhile, Queneday, whose practice focuses on insurance and new information and communication technologies, was head of Bird & Bird's Paris tax group and co-head of the firm's international tax group.

Salans global managing partner Dariusz Oleszczuk commented: "These hires are part of a long-term strategy to increase Salans' French and German practices, especially in dynamic sectors such as finance and technology where Salans has a growing global market reputation."

The hires come after corporate partner Robert Michels joined Salan's Frankfurt office in July from Germany's Beiten Burkhardt. Michels specialises in public takeover law, structured projects and equity capital markets.

The firm also recently appointed Peter Griffith as its new global chief operating officer. Griffith, who joined the firm from the Ropes & Gray's London office, will be responsible for all the firm's global support services, including finance, IT, business development and marketing.