CMS has named Dorothee Ruckteschler as its new head of international arbitration, replacing Torsten Lorcher.

Ruckteschler, a Stuttgart-based partner at CMS Hasche Sigle, founded the dispute resolution practice at her firm and has led the team for more than 10 years.

She played a key role in overseeing the German firm's entry into the Hong Kong market when it became the first German firm to join the jurisdiction's arbitration chambers last August.

Both Ruckteschler and Lorcher split their time between Germany and Hong Kong along with three other senior disputes lawyers from the firm.

Lorcher will continue to lead CMS' disputes practice, which oversees the international arbitration group.

Ruckteschler said that the firm aims to "grow its practice further in line with client demand".

CMS Hasche Sigle's dispute resolution practice will now be jointly led by Munich-based partner Claus Thiery and Hamburg-based partner Matthias Schlingmann.

Matthias Lichtblau, who was the business development and communications director at the German arm, took over from Matthew Gorman, who had held the position since 2011.

Lichtblau is responsible for business development, market communications, technology and skills training among the ten member firms.