Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will push for significant growth of its US transactional practices following the appointment of a new M&A head in New York. 

The magic circle firm made a statement of intent with the hire of former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz partner Mitchell Presser last week, and global senior partner Will Lawes has said he intends to invest more in the US business, expanding the transactional team from five to 25 partners.

Speaking to Legal Week, Lawes (pictured) said the firm wants to capitalise on an increasing volume of global M&A mandates which have a US law element, by building on Freshfields' existing US M&A and supporting transactional practice areas.

"You need a broad team to support an M&A practice, including partners in tax, anti-trust, finance and capital markets," said Lawes. "We have had a lot of M&A success in the US and these hires boost our capability, but we are keen to build this team to around 25 as soon as we can."

The push will not focus exclusively on M&A, but is aimed at enhancing the firm's ability to handle all transactions in the US. There is no specific headcount goal for either the firm's New York or Washington DC offices individually.

"We don't think where people are based is the most important thing," Lawes explained. "Where people work is the more important focus for us [and] we have made no secret of the fact that we want to enhance our presence in the US."

A Wall Street veteran, Presser was at Wachtell for 17 years before helping found private equity firm Paine & Partners seven years ago as head of its US M&A practice.

His appointment followed the hire of former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom banking partner James Douglas in April to lead Freshfields' US leveraged finance practice from New York.

Lawes described the hires as a "strong vote of confidence" in the firm, and  called Freshfields' cross-border transactional practices "amongst the very strongest in the world".