Lovells has been hit with the loss of restructuring partner Matthew French, who is moving on to take up a senior role in-house with Swiss banking giant UBS.

French, who joined the top 10 City law firm in 1999, will become head of restructuring for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at UBS in London.

He has advised clients including Welcome Break and TXU on insolvency and restructuring issues. French has yet to finalise a starting date with UBS and will continue to advise clients until a date is set.

Commenting on the departure, Lovells managing partner David Harris told Legal Week: "Matthew's move reflects the high demand for experienced lawyers in this sector.

"We are handling a number of sensitive projects involving structured investment vehicles and other similar forms of sophisticated financial instruments with institutions in the US, London and the Middle East."

French said: "It's a great opportunity to move from a solicitor role to a client role. This is an amicable parting."The news comes with a number of major firms looking to ramp up their insolvency teams ahead of the looming economic downturn. Despite the loss, Lovells still has around 20 partners focusing on insolvency and restructuring work worldwide, Harris said.

The announcement comes just a week after it emerged that Lovells' global international arbitration head, Phillip Capper, is quitting to join the City arm of US firm White & Case in May.

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