US firm McDermott Will & Emery plans to build a 250-lawyer, City-based full service office within three years, partners at the firm have revealed.

William Charnley and Peter Nias, former heads of corporate finance and tax at Simmons & Simmons, told Legal Week that the London office will have 50 lawyers by the end of its first year and aims to increase the number to a total of 250 in two to three years’ time.