Shearman & Sterling’s Germany offering has been dealt a major blow as a 20-lawyer Munich team quits the firm to join Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, in the latest sign of international turbulence at the firm.

The exodus, led by three Munich partners, comes on the same day that Shearman and Hogan Lovells ended their merger talks, and follows a string of exits from its international offering over the past few months.