Clyde & Co has hired a three-partner insurance team from Norton Rose Fulbright to open in Munich, building on its existing German presence in Düsseldorf and Hamburg. 

The arrival of partners Eva-Maria Barbosa, Andreas Börner and Sven Förster, who are moving across with five other lawyers and two support staff, comes two years after the firm opened in Hamburg following on from its 2016 German launch in Düsseldorf. Further hires to the new office, which will open next next month, are described by the firm as 'imminent'. 

The firm’s German offering supports national and international insurers, advising on products, claims and emerging risks in one of the EU’s largest markets.

James Cooper, chair of Clyde & Co’s global insurance practice, said the hires had been driven by client demand which had “been brought into even sharper focus thanks to the global nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in Europe thanks to the uncertainties and disruption caused by Brexit”.

The three partners have worked together since 2006, providing corporate, transactional claims and disputes services to insurers. Förster – a dispute resolution lawyer – brings extensive experience advising on complex domestic and multi-jurisdictional insurance claims, while corporate lawyers Barbosa and Börner provide expertise in a broad range of insurance regulatory matters, insurance-related M&A deals and restructuring projects.

Barbosa said: “We are a team who have worked very closely together for almost 15 years, and we are really looking forward to joining and forming a cohesive team with our new colleagues in Düsseldorf and Hamburg and around the world”.

Henning Schaloske, head of Clyde & Co’s German insurance practice, added: “The hire of such a high quality, well renowned group of lawyers, who bring with them such diverse law expertise, underlines our commitment to building a market-leading insurance practice across the country”.

NRF, meanwhile, pointed to the arrival this month of Munich-based counsel Dreier from AIG, where he was head of M&A for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as evidence of its continued commitment “to provide our clients with high quality legal advice and support in Germany, Europe and around the world”. Its German insurance law team has nine partners.

Clyde & Co’s move into Munich coincides with Shearman & Sterling’s relaunch in the city on the back of a double-partner private equity hire from Linklaters.

Last month, Watson Farley & Williams announced the launch of Düsseldorf office – its fourth in Germany – with the hire of energy partners Thorsten Volz and Torsten Wielsch and a team of six other lawyers from Pinsent Masons.