Simmons & Simmons has hired a three-lawyer King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) team led by intellectual property (IP) partner Michael Knospe.

Knospe is joining Simmons' Munich office with counsel Caroline von Nussbaum and supervising associate Massimo Bellitto-Grillo.

Knospe, who joined legacy SJ Berwin as a partner in 2010, focuses on complex patent litigation across a range of technologies, including telecoms, electronics and mechanics. He spent three years as a parter at Howrey before joining SJ Berwin, prior to which he was at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for 19 years, where he made partner in 1992.

Simmons IP head Rowan Freeland said: "Michael's arrival is a real vote of confidence in the firm's international IP practice and his presence will strengthen both our IP offering on the ground in Germany and our wider international practice."

Knospe's departure from KWM comes amid a period of upheaval for the firm. Following the resignation of four high profile London partners last month, the firm halted its recapitalisation plans, which had been due to see partners put £14m into the business.

At a meeting in London last week (10 November), partners of the verein firm's European and Middle Eastern partnership were told that its Asian offices were willing to offer financial assistance to the troubled European partnership.

As part of the deal, the Chinese and Australian arms of the firm are understood to have guaranteed that equity partners will receive at least £11,000 per equity point in remuneration. The firm runs a 20- to 60-point lockstep ladder with a discretionary bonus pool on top, so a guarantee of £11,000 would equate to partners receiving between £220,000 and £660,000, depending on their position on the lockstep.

Roughly 60% of KWM's European partners will have to agree to the deal for it to be viable. This equates to around 70 of some 120 partners. Partners have until the week commencing 21 November to make up their minds.

Meanwhile, the firm's global managing partner Stuart Fuller has stepped down to return to fee earning next year, prompting a search for his successor.