Locke Lord has boosted its London insurance and reinsurance team with a hire from Mayer Brown's City arm.

Ian McKenna, who has been a partner at Mayer Brown since 2003 when he joined from Holman Fenwick & Willan, will take the partner count in the team to three, including Damian Cleary and Gavin Coull.

McKenna's practice covers contentious reinsurance and insurance matters such as coverage disputes, reinsurance recoveries, breach of contract, avoidance and related disputes both in the commercial courts and in arbitration.

He has previously advised on reinsurance loss matters including disputes concerning the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, the California fires in 2007, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

Locke Lord's global insurance and reinsurance chair Nick DiGiovanni commented: "Ian's addition to our insurance and reinsurance group makes our international platform that much stronger. Our bench strength in the London, European and Bermudian insurance and reinsurance markets offers our growing client base even more capabilities and service."

Locke Lord, which currently has 14 London partners, is aiming to bring total lawyer headcount in the City up to 40 by the end of the year, with at least two partners in each of its six key practice areas – energy, insurance, reinsurance, motor, healthcare and hospitality.

Last month the firm hired Berwin Leighton Paisner senior associate Ayesha Hasan as a real estate and finance partner, and Salans corporate partner Rob Askew. The office includes seven partners from the City arm of Salans (including banking chief Stephen Finch) who quit Salans in November 2011 to launch the base early in 2012.