A group of Lefevre Pelletier partners have left the law firm to open the first large Continental European office of Wragge & Co, the UK law firm specialised in real estate. Opened last month, Wragge's new Paris office comprises 50 staff including 35 lawyers with plans to recruit five more by the end of the year, Henry Ranchon, partner of the real estate division, told PropertyEU.
A group of Lefevre Pelletier partners have left the law firm to open the first large Continental European office of Wragge & Co, the UK law firm specialised in real estate. Opened last month, Wragge's new Paris office comprises 50 staff including 35 lawyers with plans to recruit five more by the end of the year, Henry Ranchon, partner of the real estate division, told PropertyEU.
'We had some disagreements with regard to the overall strategy of Lefevre Pelletier, so we decided to embark together on this new business adventure,' he said.
According to Ranchon, the firm's ambition is to enter the top 20 French law firms in the next five years. 'We have quite a comprehensive group of partners covering real estate finance, taxes, corporates and regulated investment funds, as well as public real estate and planning. We cover the whole spectrum of the real estate industry,' he added.
The firm will be looking to work with a wide range of real estate clients including property developers, lenders, insurance companies and investment funds.
'Real estate is becoming an increasingly international business,' Ranchon said. Only 10 years ago, Wragge & Co was active solely in the city of Birmingham, he added. 'Today the foreign activities represent over 20% of the group's business.'
