SJ Berwin is to add to its structured finance practice with the hire of a partner from Sidley Austin, doubling the team's partner capacity in London.

Sidley finance partner Andrew Bliss, who is a UK-qualified solicitor in the US firm's London office, is set to join SJ Berwin's City finance group after being voted into the partnership on 7 October.

Bliss, who joined Sidley in 1999, has a practice focused around structured finance deals, including the securitisation of loans and rental deposits, repackagings, and bond and equity-linked transactions in the developed and emerging markets.

SJ Berwin currently has only one London partner focusing on structured finance, Vanessa Therrode, who was made up to partner in 2009 in an out-of-season promotion round following the departure of the previous head of the group, Brian Carne, who left to set up his own non-legal finance advisory boutique called Beryllium Finance.

The structured finance team sits within the wider finance practice, headed by City partner Jeremy Cross.

Cross said: "It will be great to have Andrew join the team and it will give a significant boost to our structured finance offering, effectively doubling our partner count in the area. We expect there will be an increase in structured finance work, not least as a result of the current problems in the eurozone."

SJ Berwin's City office has seen a number of departures recently, with an eight-lawyer investment funds team led by partners Nigel van Zyl and Oliver Rochman quitting for Proskauer Rose.