Covington & Burling has hired King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) disputes partner Greg Lascelles in London.
The hire comes just over a year after the US firm took KWM litigation head Alex Leitch to boost its European disputes practice.
Lascelles was made up to partner at KWM in 2011 and specialises in securities litigation.
He will be reunited with Leitch when he joins Covington later this year.
Leitch was one of a number of big hitters to leave KWM last year.
Private equity co-head Richard Lever joined Goodwin Procter in April alongside private equity partner Simon Fulbrook in July. Intellectual property partner Ray Black left for Mishcon de Reya and regulatory partner Gregg Beechey exited to join Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, also in July.
Lascelles’ exit is not understood to be related to a partnership restructuring undertaken at KWM at the start of this year that saw around 23 partners leaving the firm in Europe. The restructure was the second by KWM in 12 months after it cut approximately 15 equity partners last summer.
The firm has been on a mission to “reset” its partnership in recent months to stem the flow of exits and realign itself with its operations in Asia-Pacific.
The Lawyer revealed earlier this week KWM was making moves to merge in the US and could be looking to close a deal before the end of 2017.