Lovells head of corporate finance Chris Ashworth is to leave the law firm after little more than a year.

Ashworth joined Lovells from the London arm of O'Melveny & Myers in May last year and is set to leave the top 10 City law firm in the autumn.

The exact terms of his move are still under discussion but Ashworth is expected to remain on sabbatical until his departure, when he intends to take on a portfolio of legal and non-legal roles.

Lovells said it has no immediate plans to replace Ashworth as head of corporate finance – a role that was previously empty for several months after Hugh Nineham's departure for McDermott Will & Emery in late 2007.

Andrew Skipper, head of Lovells' corporate stream, commented: "We agreed with Chris that in the economic climate his time at the firm has not worked out as he had hoped. Over the last 12 months or so we have built up a very strong group of London corporate partners who have continued to advise on many interesting and high-profile deals despite the downturn in the M&A market. "

Ashworth said: "These are difficult markets to develop stronger corporate and corporate finance businesses and for some time I have been wanting to develop a more commercial, perhaps non-legal, group of activities. Lovells and I have agreed that this is a good time to go our separate ways."