Baker & McKenzie is beefing up its London private banking group with the hire of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) partner Henry Frydenson.

Frydenson is set to join Bakers' private banking practice, headed by Paul Stibbard, at the beginning of May as a full-time consultant.

At Bakers he will concentrate on contentious trusts and private client work as well as tax, offshore and venture capital work. Bakers' London private banking team has tripled in size in the last three years and since July the firm has also expanded its practice in New York, Miami and Zurich. In November the firm hired Ashley Crossley as a partner from Clifford Chance.

Crossley told Legal Week: "Frydenson is coming as a rainmaker and will act as a lynchpin between trust litigation and private banking. There is a huge amount of work at the moment – a lot of it international, where they need multi-jurisdictional advice, and we are one of the few firms that can provide that."

Bakers' private banking team has recently been focusing on Switzerland and the Middle East as local banks look to invest in UK Sharia-compliant structures.

Jonathan Kropman, head of BLP's tax trusts and personal tax planning group, told Legal Week that Frydenson's departure was amicable and would not have a substantial impact on the group, as Frydenson's work is largely contentious and the group focuses on non-contentious work.

Frydenson is the chairman and co-founder of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists.