Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has recruited senior Linklaters competition partner Wolfgang Deselaers alongside the promotion of three lawyers in its annual partnership round.

The US firm has hired Linklaters competition partner Wolfgang Deselaers, who has been a partner at the magic circle firm since its 2001 merger with Oppenhoff & Raedler.

He made partner at Oppenhoff in 1997, having joined the firm in 1991. His practice at Linklaters focuses on cartel damage litigation, EU and German merger control, joint ventures, cartels, monopolies and state aid

At Linklaters he has been based in Brussels and Duesseldorf, but at Cleary he will split his time between the US firm's Cologne and Brussels offices.

Cleary managing partner Michael Gerstenzang said: "We are very fortunate to welcome Wolfgang, an accomplished lawyer with a strong record of success.

"Cleary is counsel of choice to leading corporations around the world on complex antitrust matters, and Wolfgang will add to our already formidable depth and breadth in this important area of the firm's international practice."

Meanwhile, in London, M&A associate Nallini Puri (pictured) has been promoted to the firm's partnership. She joined Cleary in 2008 from Indian firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff, and has advised major clients including McDonald's, Lafarge, Barclays and Vale.

In total, Cleary has made up three lawyers to partner this year, with a further 10 promoted to counsel. The other two new partners are in New York. The promotions bring the firm's total worldwide partner count to 194.

The new counsel include two London lawyers – corporate tax associate Jennifer Maskell and capital markets associate Aseet Dalvi – with the others spread across the firm's offices in Brussels, New York, Paris and Washington DC.

All of the promotions come into effect on 1 January 2018.

Last year Cleary promoted one lawyer to partner in London, but none were made up in the firm's City base in the previous two years.