German independent Schilling Zutt & Anschuetz has made its first lateral hire, recruiting corporate and M&A partner Stephan Brandes from McDermott Will & Emery.

Brandes left the Mannheim arm of Shearman & Sterling at the end of 2007, just months before the office split from the US firm, reverting back to the name it operated under before the 2000 tie-up. He briefly moved to McDermott’s Munich office before now returning to Mannheim.