Oostvogels Pfister Roemers has become the first Luxembourg law firm to open an office in London.

Partner Stef Oostvogels told the Gazette: 'Our work is almost exclusively international and cross-border, and we have a lot of private equity clients in London. We are teaming up with UK and US firms on deals where there is a Luxembourg issue involved and we wanted to be closer to them.'


Mr Oostvogels said the independent firm would only advise on Luxembourg law, and so would not be in competition with practices that referred work. 'The market for Luxembourg law advice is increasing and over the last five years we have grown tremendously,' he added.


Mr Oostvogels insisted that the arrival of magic circle firms such as Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Linklaters as competitors in Luxembourg in recent years had been a welcome development.


'That has improved the situation - they have helped put Luxembourg on the international map,' Mr Oostvogels said. 'But there's still a lot of margin for growth.'


Associate Estelle Francais will be based full-time in the office, which is located in the City.