Mayer Brown has made its seventh lateral hire in London in as many weeks, with the appointment of Allen & Overy (A&O) employment partner Stefan Martin.

Martin advises financial institutions and corporates on a full range of employment and executive benefits work with a particular focus on the field of discretionary bonuses.

He was promoted to A&O's partnership in 2000 after working as an associate at both the magic circle firm and SJ Berwin.

Commenting on Martin's appointment, Mayer Brown's head of employment and benefits Nicholas Robertson said: "We believe he will strengthen the depth of our expertise on contentious and non-contentious matters. His practice is an excellent fit for our client base in London."

Martin added: "I believe that Mayer Brown's global platform is a compelling proposition for clients, both in the UK and internationally where the firm has great strength, particularly in the US and Asia."

Although Martin will only join Mayer Brown in January, he is the seventh partner to have signed for the US-headquartered firm in London in recent weeks, following the appointments of Berwin Leighton Paisner's Trevor Wood and White & Case's Mayank Gupta as partners in the firm's banking and finance group.

The hire of the pair came after the recruitment of securitisation partners Richard Todd and David O'Connor from BLP and A&O respectively, while White & Case corporate and securities partner Greg Stonefield and SJ Berwin real estate partner Patricia Jones also signed for the firm in late September.

Speaking to Legal Week in late October, banking head Dominic Griffiths said the recent run of lateral hires was "largely coincidental", and that the firm had been speaking to a number of the recruits for a considerable time.