Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has seemed to be on a roll since the 2012 Anglo-Australian merger that created it, with positive financial results, ambitious international expansion and significant investment in a series of international legal services centres.

Last week, however, saw two exits from the firm's City base – high profile finance partner Malcolm Hitching quit for Ropes & Gray in London, while financial regulatory partner Nick Bradbury is set to join Allen & Overy to help plug the gap left by Bob Penn's exit for Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton earlier this year.

News of the exits came little more than a week after Quinn Emanuel hired HSF's head of Paris disputes, Isabelle Michou, while in September the firm saw 10 Asia-Pacific partners leave to launch White & Case's Australia practice.

It also comes after it emerged earlier this month that, subject to a partnership vote, Australian Mark Rigotti is set to become sole chief executive after two and a half years sharing the post with UK litigator Sonya Leydecker.

Alongside this month's appointment of Tim Bednall as managing partner of King & Wood Mallesons' European arm, (who today on Legal Week sets out his turnaround plan for the business) and Paul Jenkins as managing partner of Ashurst, it means a partner from the Australian side of each merged firm is now in operational control.

KWM last week added to the international element of its European management team, with the appointment of its first non-London senior partner – Frankfurt's Michael Cziesla. The firm, which has had a challenging 18 months in Europe, is currently embroiled in a dispute with Goodwin Procter and former partner Richard Lever. It is suing both Goodwin and Lever following a series of partner moves to the US firm from KWM, including Goodwin's hire of a six-partner private equity team from KWM's Paris office in April this year.

Other highlights on Legal Week last week: