Baker Botts has boosted its London base with the hire of partner David Ramm from US rival Morgan Lewis's City office. Ramm specialises in private equity, venture capital and M&A work across a broad range of technology sectors and joins Baker Botts' corporate practice. He moved to Morgan Lewis in 2014 from legacy US outfit Edwards Wildman Palmer, which he joined in 2009 to launch its City private equity practice.

Latham & Watkins has made two continental European lateral partner hires, adding a partner apiece in its Munich and Madrid offices. Baker McKenzie litigation partner Thomas Grutzner has joined its litigation and trial department in Munich, and will focus on advising corporate and financial institution clients on complex compliance and white-collar crime matters.

The firm has also further added to its Madrid office, with antitrust partner Jose Maria Jimenez Laiglesia joining from DLA Piper, reuniting him with former DLA Piper global co-chair Juan Picon who joined the US heavyweight last November. Latham also hired Linklaters real estate partner Rafael Molina to the base earlier this year.

Simmons and Simmons has boosted its Milan office with the hire of a three-lawyer intellectual property team from local firm Vanzetti e Associati. The firm has hired partner duo Stefania Bergia and Giulio Enrico Sironi from the firm, with associate Anna Colmano joining them in the move.

Brown Rudnick has boosted its corporate offering with the addition of private equity partner Philip Watkins to its London office. Watkins joins Brown Rudnick from fellow US outfit Katten Muchin Rosenman and specialises in cross-border M&A, sophisticated private equity transactions, takeovers, strategic investments, joint ventures, restructurings, refinancings, buyouts and exit strategies.

K&L Gates has hired Reed Smith partner James Cross as a partner in the private equity and corporate practice of its London office. At Reed Smith, he co-founded and served as the coordinator of the firm's dedicated London private equity practice. His experience includes acting both for investors and management, including on buyouts, auction sales, secondary investments, restructurings, and acquisitions.

Howard Kennedy has hired City capital markets expert James Wilson (pictured) from Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) to lead the firm's alternative investment market (AIM) group. At HFW, Wilson specialised in corporate finance transactions, M&A and a range of other corporate and commercial work across a broad range of sectors.

DLA Piper has bolstered its Munich office with the hire of corporate and private equity partner Simon Vogel from Dentons, where he has been a partner since 2017. Vogel will be joined by senior associate Michael Rebholz and associate Eva Viktor.

Dechert has hired Hogan Lovells corporate partner Robert Darwin to its London office. Darwin's international practice focuses on M&A and private equity deals for corporates, funds and other private investors. He is the third lateral hire for Dechert in London in as many months, following former Sidley partner Dorothy Cory-Wright's appointment as head of Dechert's commercial disputes practice.

RPC has hired professional negligence partner Rhian Howell, the former head of the Bristol office of Beale & Co. Howell has been a partner at Beale & Co since the office's opening in 2006.

Eversheds Sutherland has hired Hong Kong-based partner Cedric Lam as its Greater China head of intellectual property from Dorsey & Whitney, where he had been a partner since 2007. He focuses his practice on acquiring and maintaining IP rights and implementing IP protection and licensing strategies.