Brown Rudnick has bulked up its London arm with the hire of LG intellectual property (IP) and media head Georgie Collins.

Collins joined the firm last week after three years with LG, where she has been a partner since 2010 and practice head since 2008.

Her practice focuses on both contentious and non-contentious IP matters with particular experience in international and cross-border disputes. Her departure leaves LG with no partners in its IP 
and media group.

Brown Rudnick London managing partner Scott Burns said: "We have been generally looking to grow our London practice and Georgie's hire is an illustration of that. We are now very focused on building our life sciences practice, as well as white-collar crime and international arbitration.

"It has been a propitious time to be hiring in London. In the current economic climate lawyers seem receptive to exploring attractive 
new opportunities."

Prior to joining LG in 2008, Collins spent time at Bevan Brittan, Osborne Clarke and Stephenson Harwood.

News of Collins' exit marks the latest in a number of departures from LG including a trio of litigation partners, Jeremy Andrews, Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry and James Curle, who resigned to join DLA Piper last month.

In contrast, Brown Rudnick has been expanding its London arm in recent months with hires including Chadbourne & Parke insolvency partner Adrian Harris in August while Ashurst structured funds head Nick Terras and White & Case finance counsel Massimo Galli both joined as partners in June.

LG head of dispute resolution David Breslin said: "IP and media continues to be an important focus for us and we are committed to continued investment in this area. We obviously wish Georgie well in her new firm."