Hogan Lovells has hired corporate and criminal litigation specialist Arthur Dethomas as a partner in its Paris office.

Dethomas was formerly a name partner at French firm at Dethomas Peltier Juvigny & Associés, where he spent seven years.

Before that, he was a lawyer for eight years at Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzera, another French firm, which followed a five-year stint at Salans.

His expertise includes corporate law, stock exchange and financial litigation, and white-collar criminal law.

He spent time at the beginning of his legal career as an adjunct professor of law at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. He currently teaches banking and financial regulation law at elite French university Sciences-Po. He is also a member of the Club des Juristes, a French legal thinktank.

His appointment takes Hogan Lovells' tally of litigation partners in Paris up to four. The team also includes 25 associates and other employees.

Following his departure, Dethomas's former firm has since renamed itself Peltier Juvigny Marpeau & Associés, having removed Dethomas's name and added that of M&A specialist and partner Benoit Marpeau.

"The arrival of Arthur marks a new stage in our strategy for Paris," said Xenia Legendre, managing partner of Hogan Lovells' Paris office, in a statement. "Arthur will play a key role in bringing and leading our litigation practice to even greater success. With his arrival we significantly strengthen our offer in corporate and criminal litigation."

No one at Peltier Juvigny Marpeau & Associés was immediately available to comment on the move.

In November Hogan Lovells' board unanimously recommended Hong Kong-based finance partner and Asia-Pacific and Middle East chief executive Miguel Zaldivar as a successor to its outgoing chief executive officer Steve Immelt. If that decision is ratified by a partnership vote this month, Zaldivar will begin a four-year term in office in July 2020.