Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is bulking up its Paris office with the hire of former Sanofi-Synthelabo general counsel Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, less than a year after he quit Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for the pharmaceutical giant.

Corporate partner Cohen-Tanugi joins Skadden’s Paris arm as its fourth partner after over-seeing the landmark A 53.5bn (£35.52bn) merger between Sanofi and Aventis earlier this year.