Herbert Smith Benelux ally Stibbe has hired rated Willkie Farr & Gallagher competition partner Marc van der Woude, leaving the US firm with no competition partners in Brussels.

Van der Woude, who will join the Benelux leader on 1 September, becomes the fourth partner in the firm’s 20-lawyer Brussels competition group. He spent around four years with Willkie before which he was a partner at NautaDutilh.