Herbert Smith Freehills expands German office with energy senior partner hire

Herbert Smith Freehills announced last week that it has recruited Dirk Hamann as a partner in Berlin. He joins the firm from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where he became a partner in 1997 having worked at the firm (at that time Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann) since being admitted to the German Bar in 1992.

A senior corporate lawyer with a focus on regulated industries, Dirk was Freshfields' global co-head of energy and natural resources from 2009 to 2013 and has also served as global head of the firm's renewable energy group. He has experience in public and private M&A; corporate advisory work including restructurings and reorganisations, joint ventures, privatisations and refinancing; and general disputes advice including corporate litigation and arbitration. He will be joining Herbert Smith Freehills' Berlin office which focusses on advising regulated industries and in particular the energy sector.

Dirk is Herbert Smith Freehills' seventh partner hire in Germany since opening for business in April 2013, joining corporate and M&A lawyers Ralf Thaeter and Nico Abel, real estate specialist Hans Thomas Kessler, disputes expert Mathias Wittinghofer, finance partner Kai Liebrich and competition lawyer Michael Dietrich. Employment specialist Moritz Kunz has also joined the Frankfurt office as Of Counsel from Norton Rose Fulbright.

Ralf Thaeter, who is leading the firm's development in Germany, comments:

"Dirk is a highly regarded partner whose arrival will help us to achieve one of our key objectives of building a quality German corporate practice that is fully integrated into the firm's global network. His experience and client base is also closely aligned with our global energy practice, and his presence in Berlin positions us well for the expected upturn in energy-related M&A activity following the German Government's decision to phase out nuclear power."

Alvaro Sainz, Regional Head of Corporate Practice, EMEA comments:

"We are delighted to welcome Dirk to the firm and our Corporate practice in Europe. Our team in Germany is already winning interesting and complex cross-border client mandates and, as Europe's largest transactional market, we anticipate that Dirk will swiftly grow his practice by close collaboration with our network of offices in Europe, the Middle East and particularly Asia."