Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has hired 21 lawyers, including seven partners, from French firm Franklin in a major boost for the firm's Paris office.

The partners span across four practice areas including real estate, taxation, financing, and public law.

The group includes co-head of Franklin's real estate department Henry Ranchon and fellow real estate partner Laurent Schittenhelm. Ranchon has co-led Franklin's real estate department since 2013, when he joined from Wragge & Co.

Schittenhelm made partner at the firm in 2018, and held stints previously at Baker McKenzie and later on joining Clifford Chance.

The pair are joined in the move by tax duo Christine Daric and Olivier Mesmin, financing partners David Blondel and Olivier Borenstejn and public law practice partner Jean-Pierre Delvigne.

All partners are joining with their respective teams, adding a total of 21 lawyers to the firm's Paris office. The firm has secured an additional temporary office space to support this expansion, the firm said in a statement.

Managing partner of BCLP's Paris office Remy Blain said: "Attracting a team of this calibre demonstrates our desire to invest and grow ourselves, not only in Paris but also in Europe. This is a strong message to our respective clients who will benefit from broader and integrated service offerings."

This is the largest addition of lawyers since the merger between legacy firms Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner in 2018. The Paris office is now its third largest European base, according to the firm.