Pinsent German move

National firm Pinsent Curtis Biddle has continued its European development by forming an alliance with German corporate practice Hoffman Liebs Fritsch Ruhe.

The 16-partner German firm, with offices in Dusseldorf and Berlin, joins Swedish practice Magnusson Wahlin and Paris-based Granrut as part of a European legal network with Pinsents at the head.

Under the terms of the alliance, an exclusive referral relationship will exist between the firms and there will be secondments of both partners and associates.

Andrew Hedley, Pinsents' business development director, said: 'Germany is a very important market in Europe and one we have been interested in for some time.

The firm had a relationship with Hoffman from its pre-merger days, so we know they are good lawyers and can help us deliver a seamless service to our clients.'

Mr Hedley said both firms would undergo a period of knowledge sharing and aligning IT systems to 'help make life easier for clients'.

Hoffmans partner Klaus Fritsch said the secondments were important.

'We hope to exchange ten to 12 lawyers a year for one or two-month periods, even at partner level,' he said.

'Pinsents already does this successfully with their other European alliance firms and we hope to follow suit.'

Mr Fritsch said the firms' relationship was 'contractually just an alliance, but all doors are open for the possibility of a merger in the future'.

Andrew Towler