Herbert Smith Freehills has launched a German finance practice with the hire of a fifth partner in the jurisdiction since opening a Frankfurt office in April 2013.

Kai Liebrich joins the firm from Mayer Brown's Frankfurt office, where he was made partner in 2011.

HSF is looking to make more partner hires to its German offices in the near future as it builds teams in Frankfurt, and Berlin which is to focus on corporate and regulatory work.

EMEA Head of finance, Malcom Hitchings told Legal Week that the firm was "not hiring for the sake of doing so" and is "only bringing in the best people".

Liebrich has particular expertise advising financial institutions on regulatory issues following a spell on secondment at Morgan Stanley.

He is the first finance partner to join since the Frankfurt openinf last year. Other partner-level hires include M&A partners Ralf Thaeter and Nico Abel, real estate partner Hans Thomas Kessler and disputes partner Mathias Wittinghofer.

Ralf Thaeter who is leading the firm's development in Germany said: "Kai's arrival enhances both our corporate transactional and regulatory expertise, and takes us a step closer towards our goal of achieving a full-service capability in Germany."