K&L Gates has bulked up its five-partner Paris office with the addition of two new lateral hires.

Judith Beckard-Cardoso has joined the US firm's labour and employment team from Canada's Fasken Martineau, where she spent almost two years after making partner in a move from Debevoise & Plimpton in November 2010.

Meanwhile, tax partner Bertrand Dussert has joined the firm in the French capital from local boutique Cabinet Dussert Selarl. He is also a former partner at Norton Rose and CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre.

K&L Gates has launched a raft of European offices in recent years after opening in Paris in 2008, including Frankfurt in 2009, followed by Moscow and Warsaw in 2010 and Brussels in 2011.

Beckhard-Cardoso commented: "It is particularly exciting to be joining such a fast-growing firm at a time when the employment law market in France is changing and becoming more complex."

Dussert will be handling tax-related matters involved in M&A, capital investment ventures and asset financings and securitisations, while Beckhard-Cardoso will be advising companies in reorganisations, collective bargaining agreements and employee transfers during M&A.

K&L Gates previously recruited partners for its Paris office last March, when it kickstarted a real estate practice with the hire of a three-lawyer team from Simmons & Simmons headed by partner Edouard Vitry.