Dentons has hired a team of four energy and infrastructure lawyers from Baker McKenzie to expand its Berlin office as it seeks to build out its European energy team.

Partners Thomas Dörmer and Tim Heitling are being joined by associate Annekathrin Markert and counsel Daniel Neudecker, and follow a number of key energy appointments in Europe over the past year. Partner Nicholas George joined the firm’s Paris office last month from Orrick, while Gabriele Haas joined the Frankfurt office in May last year from energy company Uniper.

Thomas Schubert, Dentons’ head of energy in Germany and European co-head of the firm’s energy regulatory group, said: “The new team’s experience in legally challenging infrastructure projects, such as broadband expansion, will complement the capabilities of our existing team.”

Dörmer brings with him 15 years’ experience as a corporate lawyer advising on complex cross-border M&A transactions and joint ventures in the energy and infrastructure space. He spent almost four years at Baker Mckenzie in Germany, having previously worked for Taylor Wessing and Linklaters.

Heitling also brings with him 15 years’ experience advising on energy and infrastructure transactions and regulatory matters. His focus is on power and generating plants, as well as storage and distribution. He also worked with Dörmer at the same prior trio of firms.

Andreas Ziegenhagen, Dentons’ Germany managing partner, said: “The new team will create synergies with our existing transactional and antitrust offering for the energy sector and contribute to our growing market presence in Germany. Our clients will also benefit from our enhanced capabilities in the infrastructure and waste sectors.”

The team has recently advised on deals involving wind farms, fibre optic network investments and waste management.

Stephan Busch, Berlin managing partner at Dentons, said: "This young team is successful in the market and will make an excellent addition to our current team, while reinforcing our strong market position in Berlin.”

Dentons currently lists 231 lawyers in Germany, including 83 partners, working out of offices in Frankfurt, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich.

Last month, the firm suffered a set back in Spain with the news that Spanish managing partner and head of real estate Jesús Varela was departing for leading Spanish independent Pérez-Llorca with two other partners.

Earlier this week, Bakers made up three German partners as part of an 84-strong partner promotion round: Berlin-based  employment specialist Matthias Koehler and Frankfurt-based Jana Fischer (tax) and Niklas Wielandt (real estate).