 In January 2006, Wilhem Haarmann launched a boutique law firm in Frankfurt am Main, Haarmann, with several former Haarmann Hemmelrath attorneys and tax advisors.Commentators viewed Haarmann Hemmelrath's collapse as another indicator that independent German law firms were unable to compete with international British and American heavyweights that had been making inroads into the German legal market.Many medium to large sized German firms had merged with international firms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, for example Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster which joined with Clifford Chance and Boesebeck Droste with Lovells, both in 1999.