Leading silk Stephen Smith QC has joined Erskine Chambers along with junior duo Tim Akkouh and Emily Gillett.

The trio, who join from New Square Chambers, focus on civil fraud, asset recovery and civil litigation.

Smith, who was named Chambers and Partners' Chancery silk of the year in 2012, took silk in 2000 and was appointed a deputy High Court Judge in 2006.

He took a major role on the extensive litigation between Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and its former chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov – one of the biggest fraud cases ever to come before the English courts.

Meanwhile, Akkouh was called to the Bar in 2004 and Gillett a year later. Both have acted as junior counsel to BTA, while Gillett was largely responsible for handling the many Kazakh and Russian law issues which arose.

Erskine's head of chambers, Michael Todd QC (pictured), who returned to practice in January following his year as Bar Council chairman, said: "Stephen's reputation speaks for itself. As Chambers & Partners' Chancery Silk of the year in 2012, he has developed a reputation for excellence. Tim has rightly been described as a 'star in the making' and Emily has also been named as an upcoming 'star at the Bar'. Adding three such able practitioners to chambers bodes extremely well for our future."

The moves come after Erskine added two silks to its ranks this January, with Peter Arden QC and Raquel Agnello QC joining from Enterprise Chambers and 11 Stone Buildings respectively. Both are insolvency specialists.