Herbert Smith has bolstered its City capital markets group with the hire of the former head of Linklaters' US practice in London.

Steve Thierbach is set to join the top 10 City law firm as a partner next month (6 April) and will work closely with the firm's capital markets head, Jim Wickenden.

US-qualified Thierbach joined Linklaters from Sullivan & Cromwell in 1995 and was the founding partner of the magic circle firm's US securities practice. He led the US practice in London until 2008 and left the firm at the end of 2009.

Thierbach, who worked with clients including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank while at Linklaters, focuses on representing issuers and underwriters in multi-jurisdictional offerings of equity and debt securities.

In addition to his client work, he will play a role building the team's presence in the Middle East, Turkey and Scandinavia.

Wickenden commented: "The firm has continued in growth mode despite the financial crisis, benefiting from the balance between the contentious and transactional practices. It is great to be able to make such key investments into the firm even in a downturn."

He added: "The capital markets team has been in more or less continuous growth mode around the world, and with Steve's client base and strategic experience it is great to have him onside to help us take advantage of the opportunities out there."

The team has picked up a number of mandates recently including advising the underwriting banks JP Morgan, HSBC and Credit Suisse and financial advisers in connection with Prudential's $35bn (£23.3bn) proposed acquisition of AIA, AIG's Asian operations, and related rights issue.