Clyde & Co is set to open a new office in Hamburg with a four-partner team hire from insurance and shipping competitor Ince & Co. It is the firm's second location in Germany, having launched Duesseldorf in 2016. Joining Clyde & Co are Ince's head of English law in Hamburg Daniel Jones, insurance litigation partner Tim Schommer, Hamburg energy and admiralty head Eckehard Volz and shipping and insurance partner Volker Lucke. Ince & Co has promoted three partners in its Hamburg office to replace those exiting the firm. Commenting on the new recruits, Simon Konsta, Clyde & Co senior partner, says: 'The hiring of this top marine, trade and energy team and the opening of our second office in Germany is in line with our strategy to build and strengthen our global platform by hiring the best lawyers across our core sectors. Germany is a hugely important market for our clients and is the biggest economy in Europe, so we are excited about building on the success of our Dusseldorf office, which launched 18 months ago.'   

Key European shipping hub

Andrew Preston, partner at Clyde & Co, says: 'With the hiring of this team we've added one of the top marine groups in Germany and secured a strong presence in a key European shipping hub, which is a major centre for owners, operators, trading houses and marine insurers.  They are a very close knit team and differentiate themselves from their competitors in Germany and northern Europe thanks to the diversity of their service offering across the sector and associated fields.'

Expansion

The expansion is the latest growth for Clyde & Co in continental Europe and Germany itself, where it first launched in Dusseldorf following the hire of a leading insurance team from Noerr. Over the past year, Clyde & Co has opened in Washington DC, Chicago, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, Auckland and Orange County, while announcing the opening of an office in Bristol later in 2018.