Mayer Brown is to bolster its London finance practice with a trio of partner hires from UK firms.

The international firm is bringing in Lee Cullinane, Nicola Marley and Graham Wedlake as partners in the City, with the hires taking the headcount in the London leveraged finance team to 10 and the wider finance practice to 16.

Cullinane joins from Clifford Chance (CC) where he was a partner for more than 10 years in the firm's leveraged finance practice. He has more than 20 years experience and has most recently been focusing on leveraged finance and associated restructuring.

Wedlake joins from Taylor Wessing, where he spent three years as a partner in the firm's asset-based lending practice. Before joining Taylor Wessing he was a partner at Winston & Strawn in London and had previously worked with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert.

Meanwhile, Marley joins Mayer Brown as a partner from Linklaters, where she was a managing associate. Her practice covers advising private equity sponsors, lenders and companies on financing deals and related restructurings.

The trio of hires come as part of a wider push by Mayer Brown to build up its European corporate and finance practices, with the firm looking to significantly grow its London headcount.

London leveraged finance chief Dominic Griffiths said: "We believe it to be sensible to take on a mix of people, in terms of seniority and practice, to show clients that we have bench strength. We will now have the depth and ability. In the context of a depressed market, we are not making any predictions on market recovery but rather we're making sure that we are well placed to service our clients."