Cahill Gordon & Reindel has officially launched an English law litigation practice in London after hiring Shearman & Sterling partner Richard Kelly.

The Am Law Daily noted Cahill's addition of Kelly in a senior counsel role late last year, but the firm's recent announcement of his hire comes with a twist: Kelly will now become a Cahill partner following approval by the U.K.'s Solicitors Regulation Authority of an application allowing the Wall Street mainstay to become the first major U.S. firm in London to be licensed under an alternative business structure.

An ABS license, as previously noted by The Am Law Daily, allows law firms operating in the U.K. to raise capital from nonlawyers and creates new entities offering legal services. Earlier this month, one of the first firms to take advantage of the ABS model—Australian personal injury giant Slater & Gordon—paid a whopping $947 million to acquire the legal division of British insurance claims processor Quindell.