Lovells' London office has launched a corporate governance unit that will advise listed companies on legal and regulatory changes in the sector.

The cross-practice unit, which launched this week, will target companies ranging from small-cap businesses and private entities through to FTSE 100 clients.

The unit will be overseen by London corporate partner Frances Le Grys and will initially involve eight partners with experience of advising on corporate, employment, share incentives, regulatory, competition and disputes matters.

The partners will advise directors and non-executive directors on certain regulatory and reputational risks that can occur with governance failures.

The launch comes in preparation for the publication of the new UK Corporate Governance Code, which will look at a range of board issues including remuneration, shareholder relations, composition and auditing.

Lovells' decision to form the unit comes as the firm prepares for its 1 May merger with Hogan & Hartson. Hogan already has a longstanding governance practice in the US headed by Washington partner Stuart Stein.

Le Grys commented: "Through our corporate governance unit, we are looking to advise and inform companies and directors to ensure that corporate decision-making and policies on issues such as board assessment and training, risk management and remuneration structures are following best practice, with the hope that problems and failures that have occurred in the past can be avoided in the future."