Simmons & Simmons has appointed its first general counsel (GC) following the resignation of its head of risk who is moving to Pinsent Masons.

Simon Watson, currently head of the firm's international employment head based in London, will step into the role 1 May this year. He will be a full time GC and the firm will appoint his successor as international employment head in the next few weeks.

Watson already has experience liaising with the risk team. As head of employment, the risk team occasionally run issues past him.

His appointment was triggered by the fact that head of risk Chris Andrews will exit the firm at the end of May to join Pinsents as its director of risk and compliance. Andrews will join Pinsents in June.

The GC post will now replace the head of risk role at Simmons.

Simmons managing partner Jeremy Hoyland said: "Simon's extensive experience as a leading lawyer, as well as his commercial acumen, will be invaluable in shaping the ways we do business in an increasingly complex environment. As the firm's first GC, he will be integral to the future development of the firm."

Law firms are finding they require more legal advice about their own businesses than in the past in order to deal with increasing regulatory pressures.

As part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority's (SRA) regulatory framework, introduced in 2013, they had to nominate individuals for two roles: compliance officers for legal practice (COLPs) and compliance officers for finance and administration (COFAs). GC's typically fulfil the COLP role.The new GC role comes after a period of change for the firm.

Last month, Simmons announced that is set to close its Abu Dhabi office. This will be the second office closure in the past 12 months after it pulled out of Rome last year leaving it with one remaining base in Italy.

However, the firm continues to post solid financial results. The firm brought in just over £142m in revenue between May and October 2015, equating to growth of roughly 1%.

Previously, Simmons brought in £289m for the 2014-15 financial year, a 7.6% increase from the year before.