Edwards Wildman Palmer has made its third London partner hire from Bird & Bird this year, as the US firm completes a rebrand in the wake of its merger with Chicago's Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon.

The firm, formerly known as Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, has recruited Bird & Bird telecoms partner Stuart Blythe as part of an effort to grow a London telecoms practice.

Blythe, who focuses on corporate, M&A and commercial law, joined the firm earlier this week (4 October) as the thirtieth partner in its London office, which also has 37 associates.

He had been a partner with Bird & Bird since being made up in 2009, one year after he joined the firm from telecoms company Viatel, where he was general counsel. Before that he held the same role at MCI International (now Verizon).

Edwards Wildman's London partner-in-charge Laurence Harris said that expansion of the London telecoms practice is a priority for the firm as it wants to take advantage of opportunities presented by its US practice in the sector, which works with key clients such as Time Warner.

Harris said: "We have a strong telecoms practice in the US, so a big part of this hire is to be able to draw on those opportunities. We have quite a lot of telecoms experience also in our private equity practice because many of our clients there are heavily involved with investments in that area. Stuart is a very interesting lawyer as he spent many years in-house and really knows this sector, which is very, very useful to us."

The hire comes after legacy Edwards Angell made two other Bird & Bird City partner hires earlier this year, with intellectual property partner Richard Graham joining the firm in July and banking partner Charles Proctor moving over in May.

The Edwards Angell/Wildman Harrold merger was announced in August this year and has seen the creation of a 650-lawyer firm with 14 offices around the world. Edwards Angell managing partner Walter Reed is the managing partner of the new firm, while Wildman Harrold managing partner Robert Shuftan has taken the deputy managing partner role.