Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Seyfarth Shaw is adding two former Eversheds Sutherland attorneys to its international employment law practice in London, the firm announced Thursday.

Martin Hopkins, who spent three decades at Eversheds, will serve as the firm's director of European practice development, joined by partner Ana Cid Velasco.

Hopkins helped build the international employment team at Eversheds, and he boasts a long record advising clients on high-profile international employment matters, including major cross-border strategic and transactional projects for large multinational corporations. He previously headed Eversheds' North American sales team.

According to Darren Gardner, chair of Seyfarth's international department, the firm takes a different approach to global work than Eversheds and other large international firms, focusing on aiding multinational clients with teams of specialists operating out of a smaller number of locations.

"We're not trying to colonize the world," he said.

Gardner noted that Hopkins—whom he has known for 20 years—has "watched with interest in what we've done and how we've done it."

"He'll play an integral role in the scaling of the European practice," he added.

Gardner also had praise for Cid Velasco, noting that her language skills and experience will help bolster the firm's capabilities in both Europe and Latin America. Cid Velasco, a Spanish qualified attorney, previously practised out of Eversheds' Madrid office.

"The fact that we've worked together for a very long time and they understand our model and have experience in working with it at another firm—they've seen the approach that we adopt, and we expect this to be a very seamless integration," Gardner said. 

The firm intends to continue building in Europe and Asia from its existing locations. Seyfarth's sole European outpost is in London, and the firm also has international offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne. In total, it has more than 850 attorneys in 15 offices.

A spokeswoman from Eversheds Sutherland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.