A mixture of profitability concerns and desire for further growth are likely to have been key factors in Bird & Bird's 20 lawyer Hamburg team's decision to move to DLA Piper last week, according to partners in the German market.

Last week it emerged that 20 lawyers, including five partners, who all previously joined from Hogan Lovells when Bird & Bird launched in Hamburg in 2011, would make the move.

The partners moving to DLA are technology, media and telecommunications partner Stefan Engels, corporate partners Jorg Paura and Daniel Weiss, litigation partner Michael Stulz-Herrnstadt and intellectual property partner Ulrike Grübler.