Locke Lord has turned to Salans for another partner hire, recruiting corporate specialist Rob Askew for the firm's London office.

Askew, who joins the Texan firm's City base after four years at Salans, focuses on corporate and cross-border transactional work. Locke Lord's London corporate group is currently manned by one other partner, Graham Spitz, who was also previously at Salans.

Askew's experience covers M&A, equity capital markets, joint ventures and restructuring, and has worked with clients in Russia, China and Hong Kong.

Locke Lord chair Jerry Clements commented: "Rob is a highly regarded international lawyer who will expand our firm's global reach and help shape our international business capabilities in the UK, Europe and Hong Kong."

Last November, Salans lost seven partners and two consultants from its London arm to Locke Lord – a team that included global banking chief Stephen Finch, real estate head Daniel Polden and consumer finance partner Paula Howard.

The team marked the first full-time hires for Locke Lord's London base, which is the firm's first European on-the-ground presence.

The firm is aiming to have a 40-lawyer headcount in the base by the end of the year, with at least two partners in its six principal practice areas – energy, insurance, reinsurance, motor world, healthcare and hospitality.