US firm Chadbourne & Parke is set to launch in Kiev as it closes in on a deal to hire a team from the local arm of dissolving US firm Altheimer & Gray. The team, led by partner Jaroslava Johnson, is expected to join Chadbournes to launch its second Eastern European office and its fourth outpost outside the US.

The news comes as Salans gears up for a vote on a long-awaited deal to take Altheimers’ Bratislava, Istanbul, Prague, Budapest and Bucharest offices wholesale.