Hogan & Hartson's former UK corporate head Jonathan Coppin has emerged as a non-executive director at Yorkshire technology company Metalysis.

Coppin spent more than 20 years as a City lawyer, including stints as a partner with Norton Rose and Shearman & Sterling, before announcing his intention to leave Hogan and the law in November 2007.

He had joined Hogan in 2006 to head the US firm's UK corporate team.

Coppin acted on a number of high-profile transactions during his time with Hogan, advising automotive giant Ford on the $2bn (£1.3bn) sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover subsidiaries to Tata Motors, which completed in early 2008, and advising Norilsk Nickel on its $4.8bn (£3.34bn) bid for Canada's LionOre Mining.

At Shearman he advised Nokia on the £13.6bn tie-up between the telecoms company and Siemens' communication services business. He has also worked with the likes of Standard Chartered, AXA and TXU.

Coppin's role at Metalysis will see him provide legal and strategic advice to the board.

Mark Bertolini, chief executive of Metalysis: "The combination of his top-level strategic and legal expertise adds a crucial dimension to our board. He brings first-hand knowledge of the major challenges we are likely to face, from intellectual property protection, to competitive threats, to key partnerships and investment relationships."