Reed Smith has hired two former Dewey & Leboeuf partners for its Astana office, becoming the latest international firm to bulk up in the Kazakh capital.

The firm, which has been based in the city since 2012, is strengthening the office with the recruitment of its first two partners, both of whom worked at Dewey before the firm collapsed in 2012.

Corporate partners Vladimir Shuster and Arman Tastanbeko – both of whom are New York and Kazakh-qualified – join Reed Smith from Morgan Lewis and White & Case respectively.

The office will also now be headed from London by international arbitration partner Belinda Paisley, who said the firm had seen growing client demand for "on-the-ground transactional capability".

Previously, the office had been staffed by a single international arbitration counsel, Dinara Jarmukhanova.

Paisley added: "Having experienced partners on the ground will enable us to better serve our clients' needs, while ensuring we're able to provide a competitive quality service."

Reed Smith also becomes the third firm in the last six months to boost its presence in the capital, following launches by both White & Case and Dentons.

Recent work carried out by the firm in the country includes the successful defense of the Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice in two separate arbitration claims for $1.29bn and $1.5bn.

The firm's corporate team also advised the Republic's participation as a consortium partner on the £3bn takeover of the formerly FTSE 100-listed Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation.

"The ENRC deal was one of the largest and most complex takeover deals in the City this year, highlighting both our capability and the quality of work emanating from Kazakhstan," said Reed Smith's Europe and Middle East corporate practice head James Wilkinson.