Charles Russell has bulked up its City corporate arm with the hire of Mayer Brown partner Lauri-Lynn Pursall.

Pursall joined Charles Russell earlier this month from Mayer Brown's London corporate practice. She had been at the transatlantic firm since 2001 and was made up to partner in 2007. She specialises in equity capital markets and M&A work in the mining, media, construction and 
retail sectors.

Charles Russell head of capital markets Simon Gilbert said: "We have been looking for a strong person to bring on board, and Lauri-Lynn really complements our 
existing practice.

"We have taken a much more defined approach to our sector focus in recent months, and this hire supports that drive, particularly in four of those sectors: retail, property, energy and natural resources, and media and entertainment. We are pursuing growth in these sectors and if a similar opportunity came along we would always be open."

The hire takes the total number of partners in Charles Russell's corporate practice to 32 and the total number of firmwide partners to 96.

Pursall's departure from Mayer Brown comes after financial services partner Nick Kynoch left the firm earlier this month to join Berwin 
Leighton Paisner.

Her hire follows a recent top-level overhaul at Charles Russell, which has seen James Holder step down as managing partner and a new-look management board voted in. The firm is set to appoint its first-ever chief operating officer in the coming months.