Travers moves on Berlin

City firm Travers Smith Braithwaite is looking to capitalise on the current unpredictability of the German legal market by recruiting a Berlin-based lawyer to start an office.

Karl Pilny, currently a partner with Coudert brothers in Berlin, will join the firm at the start of November to build Travers' German law capability in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, competition and litigation.Chris Carroll, managing partner of Travers Smith Braithwaite, said he considered forming alliances with a number of German firms before deciding such options were too risky.

'The turbulence in the German market and the fact that an ever-increasing amount of our work requires a German law capability has led us to the conclusion that having a high-quality team of our own on the ground was the best option,' he said.'We have looked at a number of interesting proposals over the last few months,' Mr Carroll continued, 'but ultimately came to the conclusion, based on past experience that alliances and best friends in the German market were just too unstable.' Among City firms already with a presence in Germany are the magic circle firms, Simmons & Simmons, Lovells and SJ Berwin.

Eversheds, has a Berlin office, and West Country firm Osborne Clarke has a branch in Frankfurt.The movement of a boutique firm - like Travers - traditionally strongly associated with the London Stock Exchange, into Berlin, is an indication of the growing potential of German financial markets.Andrew Towler