Akin Gump has hired four more Bingham McCutchen partners ahead of the latter's expected merger with Morgan Lewis & Boockius.

The new recruits include three in London, following the hire of 22 senior lawyers from the Boston-headquartered firm's City, Frankfurt and Hong Kong offices.

The spate of departures leaves Bingham with just two partners in London: competition head Frances Murphy, who joined from Jones Day last year, and restructuring partner Elisabeth Baltay. Both partners declined to comment for this piece.

The remaining partners are expected to stay with Bingham ahead of the anticipated Morgan Lewis tie-up. One Bingham source confirmed that the firm's managing partner Steven Browne told partners in a voicemail on Friday that the two firms' management had reached an agreement to merge, subject to partner approval. The news was first reported by Reuters on Saturday.

Those partners leaving Bingham are: Vance Chapman (London corporate); Thomas Holton and Thiha Tun (both London funds); and Matthew Puhar (Hong Kong corporate).

Holton, who at Bingham splits his time between Boston and London, focuses his practice on investment management and private equity and hedge fund restructuring. Tun, who joined from Herbert Smith Freehills last year, advises on private investment funds, while Chapman focuses on a mix of M&A, equity offerings and restructuring work.

Puhar, who is making the move alongside fellow Hong Kong partners Naomi Moore and Charles Rogers, advises on public and private cross-border corporate, corporate finance and restructuring matters.

The latest hires are set to join Akin Gump in the coming weeks alongside the bulk of Bingham's London and Frankfurt offices.

On 12 September, a company instructed by those involved in merger talks between the two firms registered a series of websites in their name, in a further sign that negotiations between the two US firms were progressing.

The union, if approved, is set to be known as either Morgan Bingham or Morgan Lewis Bingham.

For Akin Gump, the latest hires are a further demonstration of the firm's ability to carve out major talent teams from firms at a point of flux.

"Our financial restructuring team has known Bingham's team for many, many years," Akin Gump's chair Kim Koopersmith told Legal Week last week.

"They've always had a huge amount of respect for them, through industry events and matters in which they had worked together. Both groups always saw a natural affinity, and thought 'wouldn't it be great' if we one day got together and formed a combination."

Koopersmith also denied that Bingham's merger discussions with Morgan Lewis provided a need to accelerate discussions at Akin Gump's end, but acknowledged that "we were hoping that one day there may be a good time to talk".

Updated list of Bingham partners joining Akin Gump:
• Angeli Arora, corporate, London
• Tom Bannister, financial restructuring, London
• Vance Chapman, corporate, London
• John Clark, finance, London
• Mark Dawkins, litigation, London
• Neil Devaney, financial restructuring, London
• Davina Garrod, antitrust, London
• Christian Halasz, Financial restructuring, London and Frankfurt
• Thomas Holton, funds, London
• Richard Hornshaw, litigation, London
• Christopher Leonard, financial regulatory, London
• Helen Marshall, financial regulatory, London
• Mark Mansell, finance, London
• Naomi Moore, financial restructuring, Hong Kong
• Liz Osborne, financial restructuring, London
• Stephen Peppiatt, finance, London
• Matthew Puhar, restructuring, Hong Kong
• Charles Rogers, corporate, Hong Kong
• James Roome, financial restructuring, London
• Barry G. Russell, financial restructuring, London
• Emma Simmonds, financial restructuring, London
• Stuart Sinclair, tax, London
• Sarah Smith, finance, London
• James Terry, financial restructuring, London
• Thia Tun, funds, London
• Axel Vogelmann, financial restructuring, Frankfurt