Mayer Brown has hired Reed Smith’s private equity head Perry Yam to lead its practice in London.
Yam joins Mayer Brown as a partner and London private equity head, after nearly a four-year career at Reed Smith.
He acted as the firm’s Europe and Middle East private head, joining from the partnership of SJ Berwin in 2012 after 19 years at the firm.
During his career, Yam has acted for a range of clients including Sovereign Capital and Management, Aquila Capital and Nova Capital Management.
He is expected to expand Mayer Brown’s existing private equity practice in Europe, which was last year boosted by the arrival of two senior corporate partners in Paris – including its first-ever non-US qualified hire.
Yam’s departure from Reed Smith comes as the firm cut 45 lawyer roles across US, UK and Europe at the start of this year.
While the hire is enabling Mayer Brown to gain a new practice head, the firm nevertheless lost its restructuring co-head Ashley Katz last month to fellow US firm Fried Frank Shriver Harris & Jacobson.