Pinsent Masons is set to cut its headcount in Germany following a strategic review, the firm confirmed Tuesday (11 February). 

“We are reducing our headcount in Germany following a strategic review of our business across geographies,” a spokesperson for the firm said. “We intend to retain the capability to deliver a full-service offering in Germany to our local and international clients.”

The spokesperson added the firm “continues to perform well and has delivered strong half year results”. 

The firm did not specify how many roles are potentially being cut, though according to German legal news outlet Juve, which first reported the redundancies, 14 equity partners, their teams and further employees are under scrutiny. 

That represents a significant portion of Pinsent Masons team in Germany, where it has just over 100 lawyers including 41 partners and legal directors across three offices, according to its website.  

Juve reported the firm could downsize to a smaller office in Frankfurt following the cuts, with significant reductions also expected at its other bases in Dusseldorf and Munich. Pinsents declined to comment. 

The firm first opened in Germany in 2012 when it launched in Munich with a seven-partner team specialising in complex transactions, corporate and IT law and dispute resolution, in a move that also marked its debut in mainland Europe. It followed that up with launches in Dusseldorf in 2016 and Frankfurt three years later with hires from firms including KPMG Law, Dechert and Hogan Lovells. 

Recent work for the team in Germany has included representing Wirecard investors in damages claims and advising German metering firm Techem Group on aspects of its acquisition by investors TPG and GIC for a total consideration of €6.7bn. 

The firm last hired a partner in Germany in late 2023, according to its website, when it recruited employment specialist Michael Kalbfus in Munich from German heavyweight Noerr. Earlier in the year it had also hired a trio of partners from Dentons in Dusseldorf to boost its corporate and EU law offering, with the firm at the time emphasising the importance of the office for its European network. 

Meantime Pinsents’ Germany team has seen partner exits in recent years for rivals including Ashurst, Advant Beiten and Deloitte Legal. Last September Michael Zollner and Carl Renner, the heads of Pinsents’ flexible lawyering service Vario, also jumped to DLA Piper in Munich to launch a legal delivery centre.