Covington & Burling is poised to open offices in Dubai and Johannesburg after hiring a four-partner team from Chadbourne & Parke ahead of the latter’s planned combination with Norton Rose Fulbright.

The partners leaving Chadbourne will bring a sizeable group with them—somewhere around 25 associates and counsel—from the firm’s offices in Dubai, Johannesburg and London. Three of those Chadbourne partners will launch offices in Dubai and Johannesburg for Covington.