Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has added a partner to its Moscow dispute resolution practice with the hire of Hannes Snellman's Russia disputes head Oleg Arkhipov.

The hire comes after last month's departure of Russia disputes chief Maxim Kulkov, who left to head up the Moscow litigation practice at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

At Finland's Hannes Snellman, Arkhipov was of counsel and country disputes head. He is followed to BLP by senior associate Rimma Malinskaya.

The hire comes amid a reorganisation of BLP's regional disputes practice, which has seen a partner assigned to manage each of the firm's three core areas – corporate, commercial and client protection – with Arkhipov appointed as head of client protection.

Goltsblat BLP managing partner Andrey Goltsblat said: "We decided that we needed to reorganise the group to create a clearer structure and spread management more widely for the benefit of our lawyers, and Oleg's hire has helped enable us to do this.

"His recruitment is the latest in a number for the Moscow office and we are continuing to look at further investment in our English law finance capability and corporate."

Arkhipov specialises in arbitration hearings with particular expertise in real estate, construction, and bankruptcy.

His client portfolio includes Nokia, construction company Kone and personal and healthcare manufacturer Kimberly-Clark.