Appleby has hired a new deputy general counsel as the firm moves to separate the roles of general counsel and managing partner for the first time.

Mike Ellis has joined the firm from GlobeOp Financial Services, where he was head of legal and compliance for Europe and company secretary.

He will take up the GC role at Appleby after a short transition period, at which point the newly-created deputy GC role will disappear.

Current GC and British Virgin Islands (BVI) managing partner Michael Burns will continue in his role as managing partner.

Ellis said: "Few law firms have a GC role, so this was a great opportunity for me to move to take up a new challenge and use my skills in a different environment with a wide geographical spread.

"The role will allow me to use my cross-border experience and my managerial skills to help cement and assist with the development of the firm's strategy."

Ellis started at Appleby earlier this month and will be based in the firm's BVI office alongside Burns and firm managing partner Peter Bubenzer.

Ellis joined GlobeOp to set up its City legal department in 2005, prior to which he was at Dewey & LeBoeuf.

The news follows Appleby's expansion of its Jersey arm with the hire of Walkers' local corporate head James Gaudin in September this year.