Greenberg Traurig's London arm Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) has sealed the hire of Slaughter and May tax partner Graham Iversen in a rare lateral partner move from the elite UK firm.

Iversen, who is set to join GTM in November after resigning from Slaughters last month, will lead the UK tax practice at his new firm. He replaces partner Justin Hamer, who will remain at the firm as a consultant.

Iversen joined Slaughters' partnership in 2000 and has recently advised on tax aspects in relation to deals including Cable & Wireless Communications' €322m (£195m) sale of its holding in Monaco Telecom earlier this yearl and Countrywide's proposed initial public offering in February 2013.

GTM chairman Paul Maher told Legal Week: "[Hamer] made his decision to step down from his role leading the tax practice a year ago, and since then we have been searching for a candidate of the right calibre to follow him, which we were lucky to find in [Iversen]. His hire is an important part of a wider strategy to build our UK and Europe tax capabilities."

Slaughters practice partner Paul Olney confirmed the move, adding: "Graham has concluded it is the right time for change for him, and we wish him every success for the future."

Iversen is a rare example of a partner departing Slaughters to join another firm. In 2012 Taylor Wessing hired Slaughters tax partner Richard Carson after he retired from the magic circle firm's partnership.