Vienna firm

has hired competition and IP lawyer Martin Reinisch from local firm

Gerard van der Wal, a competition and EU litigator, has joined 's Brussels office as a partner from ' local office, where he was managing partner. Associates Annette de Neree tot Babberich and Anne-Marie Dellaert accompanied van der Wal in the move

NautaDutilh has hired three new partners for its corporate and banking practice in Brussels. Marc van der Haegen and Anne Fontaine are joining from Belgian firm Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck & Kirkpatrick, while Didier De Vliegher is moving from US firm Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, where he was managing partner in the Brussels office

International labour law alliance

has broken its "one country one firm" policy by adding two new UK members. A 30-lawyer team at will provide employment and employee benefits expertise while UK pensions advice will be provided by niche practice,

Finance lawyer Paul Flood has joined Bryan Cave's London office as counsel, focusing on cross-border restructuring work and transport-related deals. Flood was previously a partner at Tite & Lewis, the UK legal arm of Ernst & Young

Gill Bowness, formerly Director of Legal and Group Services at BASF Pharma/Knoll Pharmaceuticals, has moved into private practice at UK firm Shoosmiths, where she will practise as a consultant in the corporate department

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has hired Jim Waddington as a structured finance partner in its London office. Waddington was previously a partner at the Paris office of US firm Proskauer Rose

Nic Garnett has moved from Intertrust Technologies in Santa Clara, California to join UK solicitors The Simkins Partnership as a consultant specialising in IP and IT

A new transatlantic alliance has been forged between City law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner and New York City firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. Among other areas, the alliance will focus on cross-border corporate and finance work. The alliance will also incorporate Kramer Levin's Milan affiliate, Studio Santa Maria

has appointed Gerhard af Schultén as a senior advisor to its Helsinki office. Schultén, Finland's first ever Consumer Ombudsman, was recruited by in response to the rising demand for corporate governance related advice

has opened a Paris office after absorbing a 42-lawyer team from the Paris practice of UK firm . Among those joining are tax partner Stephane Salou and finance lawyer David Syed, who will assume the role of managing partner for Europe

plans to expand its European IP and patent practice by opening a Munich office in January 2003. Five lateral partner hires will help kickstart the new practice, supported by five lawyers who expect to move from 's existing German office in Frankfurt and a further 10-15 practitioners. In addition to IP, the Munich operation will handle M&A, venture capital and private equity work

In recent months, the German market has drawn a fresh batch of international firms, despite the uncertain business climate. Among the newcomers are UK firm Bird & Bird, US firm Fulbright & Jaworski, and UK firm Taylor Joynson Garrett (through its merger with German firm Wessing), now known as Taylor Wessing. Many international firms with an existing presence in Germany are now setting up second or third offices, reflecting the country's regionalised legal system

Niche employment practice

has joined the international labour law network

Domenico Mino Palumbo has joined as a partner in Milan to co-ordinate the firm's Major Projects Practice Group. Palumbo has several years' experience in-house with the and

has opened an office in Luxembourg. Dutch tax partner Derk Prinsen will relocate from Rotterdam to lead the new operation, which will build on the firm's existing Luxembourg tax practice

Jan M Greve, formerly Group Legal Director and Senior Vice President for Norwegian company , has joined . Greve will be based initially in the firm's London office

Lisbon firms

) and the Law Office of have merged to form Under the new name, the merged firm will retain the trademark PACSA

has appointed three lawyers from German firm 's local office for its St Petersburg practice. The new recruits are Artem Zhavoronkov (of counsel, banking and finance), Natalia Safronova (associate, corporate and commercial) and Mikhail Borodin (associate, corporate)

Herbert Smith has added international banking lawyer John Balsdon to its Moscow office, along with three assistants. Balsdon, who arrives from Clifford Chance, will divide his time between Herbert Smith's Moscow and Paris offices in the first instance. Clifford Chance has also lost Dmitri Kurochkin, a senior litigation and arbitration lawyer, to Herbert Smith's Moscow practice

has expanded its international finance and telecoms teams in Madrid with the addition of Spanish state lawyer Gonzalo Jimenez-Blanco as a partner. Jimenez-Blanco was previously at BT Ignite, BT's business services and solutions division, where he was general counsel to the Spanish subsidiary and regional counsel for Southern Europe

Frank Schoneveld, an arbitrator and English barrister, has joined Diaz-Bastien & Truan Abogados as Director of International Litigation and Arbitration

Miguel Riaño has left Garrigues Abogados y Asesores Tributarios to take the helm at Linklaters' new utilities and public sector law practice in Madrid. Riaño also brings experience in environmental law and regulatory matters, having worked with the Spanish administration

DLA has established an office in the Spanish capital, after acquiring Stephenson Harwood's Madrid practice on 31st October, 2002. The decision followed a shift in Stephenson Harwood's international strategy, in which the firm elected to focus on co-operating with firms in major European jurisdictions from its London base

Swedish law firm,

, has merged with Danish firm . The combined firm will be known as . The merger gives a link not only to Copenhagen but also to the Swedish town of Malmö

Niche employment law practice Elmzell Advokatbyrå has become a member of international labour law network ius laboris

Swiss firm

has added certified tax consultants Maja Bauer-Balmelli and Madeleine Simonek to the partnership. Bauer-Balmelli has joined from , which merged with in July 2002, while Simonek has been promoted internally