K&L Gates has made its second lateral partner hire in as many weeks with the addition of finance lawyer Stephen Moller from Simmons & Simmons.

Moller, who joined Simmons in 1994 and made partner in 1998, has a structured finance and banking practice focusing on real estate loans and acquisition finance facilities.

In 2002 he was seconded to Frankfurt to launch an office in the city for Simmons, which he headed up until 2005.

His arrival brings the number of partners in K&L Gates' City office to just shy of 60.

K&L Gates' London administrative partner Tony Griffiths commented: "Stephen's addition not only marks our continued growth in structured finance, but his wealth of experience in advising hedge funds also helps to develop ever closer links between K&L Gates' structured finance and investment management practices."

Moller's move follows that of competition partner Scott Megregian, who joined from McDermott Will & Emery toward the end of last month (21 January).

Last year the expansive K&L Gates passed the $1bn (£641m) mark in terms of revenue for the first time in its history, posting a gross revenue increase of 8% to $1.034bn (£663m), while profits per equity partner (PEP) increased by 1% to $861,000 (£552,000).

The US firm's revenue growth was driven largely by the March 2009 merger with Chicago-based Bell Boyd & Lloyd. The firm also continued its overseas expansion over the year with new offices in Frankfurt, Singapore and Dubai.