Hogan Lovells has boosted its Brussels bench with the hire of a three-lawyer EU trade team from US firm Steptoe.
Partners Renato Antonini, who was head of Steptoe’s EU trade practice, and Eva Monard have joined the firm alongside Byron Maniatis, who has made partner on the move, having been of counsel at his previous firm.
Jonathan Stoel and Ajay Kuntamukkala, co-practice area leaders of Hogan Lovells’ global trade and investment practice, said the incoming team reinforced the firm’s commitment to clients navigating international trade and investment issues in Europe and globally.
The top-of-market practice, which has 75 lawyers globally, was boosted in Washington DC in June with the hire of partners Joshua Kurland and Mayur Patel from the US Department of Justice and US Senate Committee on Finance.
The incoming team practised together at Jones Day before joining Steptoe in 2021, where Antonini was also managing partner of the Brussels office, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Antonini brings 25 years of experience and advises on EU anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations, as well as sanctions and trade controls, customs, WTO law and novel trade barriers such as the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
Meanwhile, Monard advises on EU trade and customs law, WTO disputes, trade remedies, EU sanctions and trade controls, EU internal market law and other trade barriers, including those driven by social and environmental considerations.
The team’s hire brings Hogan Lovells’ Brussels office to 10 partners, including international trade specialist Lourdes Catrain, who also works out of Madrid.
A Steptoe spokesperson said the firm had a strong US-EU-UK international trade team led by Alexandra Baj in Washington DC, with partners Meredith Rathbone and Alexandra Melia in London alongside former office managing partner, advisor Maury Shenk and partner Guy Soussan in Brussels.
The spokesperson said of the departing team: “They are good lawyers who did good work for our clients while they were with us. We continue to attract other tremendous talent to the group, with significant growth this year, and we expect to have another record-breaking year as the international trade environment continues to challenge and create opportunities for our clients.”
Hogan Lovells’ Brussels raid on Steptoe, meanwhile, is the latest of a series of team hires by the firm, including that of a four-partner commercial litigation team, who joined from legacy Kramer Levin in Washington DC in April, and a five-partner corporate and finance group, who moved across to the Milan office from White & Case in January.
Going the other way, a 10-lawyer team decamped to DWF from the firm late last year following its decision to close in the Polish capital.
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