Speechly Bircham has opened an office in Geneva today (2 September), ahead of the planned launch of another European office this November.

The new office will be led by former Withers lawyer Michael Wells-Greco and of counsel Francis Rojas, who both left the firm in 2011 to join Luxembourg-based personal wealth outfit Maitland.

The move comes after Speechly opened offices in Zurich and Luxembourg in 2011. The firm plans to open another European office in November which is understood to involve a 10-strong team hire.

The launch of the new base in Switzerland comes just months after merger talks with Withers were called off.

Senior partner Michael Lingens said: "Growing client demand for joined-up corporate and private wealth expertise made a second presence in Switzerland a logical next move for us. Zurich and Geneva are both important centres for the private banking sector and having an on the ground presence in both cities demonstrates our commitment to the Swiss market.

"Michael and Francis have worked together over many years – both at Withers in Geneva and, more recently, at Maitland. Working alongside Mark Summers, who heads our Swiss practice, they will build upon our reputation for multi-jurisdictional tax planning and wealth structuring."

Speechly Bircham posted flat revenues for 2012-13 following a series of management changes and partner exits that are expected to see the firm's partner profits rise 25% next year. The City firm took in fee income of £57.5m for the last financial year, broadly in line with the 2011-12 figure of £57.6m, while profits per equity partner fell 3% from £303,000 to £293,000.

Over the last financial year around 17 partners have left the firm – six of which were retirements, with one more to take effect in October. Meanwhile, six partners have been asked to leave, alongside a number of departures to other law firms and moves in-house.

The firm now has a total of 76 partners, down 17% from the 92 reported on the last day of the 2011-12 financial year, and is expecting PEP to be up by 25% next year as a result.

Managing partner Michael Lingens stepped into the senior partner role on 1 May this year after what is understood to have been a contested vote, replacing Alan Julyan in the role, with corporate tax head James Carter taking over as managing partner.