Dorsey & Whitney is shipping over senior US partner Paul Klaas to head up its City branch following the decision of incumbent chief John Byrne to retire.

Klaas, who began his career at Dorsey in 1977 and made partner in 1983, is a member of the firm’s board and co-chair of arbitration and litigation. He will relocate from Dorsey’s Minneapolis headquarters to London to take charge of the office’s 40 lawyers, which includes nine partners.