Trevor Soames, a former global competition co-chair at Howrey who joined Shearman & Sterling's Brussels office in 2011, has left the firm to start his own boutique.

The move is the latest European exit from the New York firm, and comes a month after news emerged that Soames and fellow Shearman & Sterling competition partners Stephen Mavroghenis and Miguel Rato were in talks to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

The trio joined Shearman in February 2011 from Howrey, a month before that firm dissolved. Howrey antitrust partners Geert Goeteyn and Goetz Drauz joined the group in heading to Shearman, although Drauz left in September 2011 to start a Brussels office for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Soames (pictured above) declined to comment when contacted by The American Lawyer, but a Shearman spokeswoman confirmed his departure, as well as the decision by Mavroghenis and Rato to remain with the firm.

In late September, Shearman adopted a plan to de-equitise some partners in order to increase profits. The 839-lawyer firm, under the leadership of senior partner Creighton Condon, has watched its finances slip in recent years as a result of flat demand for legal services and increased competition from US rivals.

Last week, global private equity head Mark Soundy left the firm's London office, followed swiftly by the resignation of London tax head Sarah Priestley. Paris finance partners Arnaud Fromion and Frederic Guillox also left Shearman last week to join Goodwin Procter, bringing with them counsel Adrien Paturaud and several associates.