Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson has dramatically bolstered its contentious French practice after forming an alliance with Paris boutique Lantourne & Partners and hiring a senior insolvency specialist from a US rival.

Fried Frank said the formal alliance, which will make the US firm one of the few foreign practices to secure a substantial contentious practice in France, was a precursor to a merger, with the two firms hoping to integrate formally as soon as 2006.