King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) litigation partner Greg Lascelles is to follow his former practice head to US firm Covington & Burling.

Lascelles has been a partner at KWM since 2011 and specialises in securities litigation concerning fixed income, currency, interest rate, commodities and derivatives products involving allegations of mis-selling and anti-competitive activity.

He will reunite with legacy SJ Berwin's former head of litigation Alex Leitch, who joined the US firm's London office in March 2015, as co-head of its European dispute resolution practice.

Leitch was one of several heavy-hitting partners who departed KWM last year.

The firm's private equity co-head Richard Lever joined Goodwin Procter in April, along with fellow private equity partner Simon Fulbrook in July last year.

Lascelles is set to join Covington & Burling later this year.

Leitch said: "Financial services remains an active sector that attracts a lot of demand from our clients across a variety of disciplines, including antitrust litigation, commercial litigation and regulatory disputes.

"Greg's arrival will be another welcome addition to an already vibrant practice."

Lascelles' departure is understood not to be connected to KWM's current partnership restructuring.

In February, the firm announced that it would cut 15% of its European partnership as it slashed its practice groups from 17 to three.

The review is the second to hit the legacy SJ Berwin arm of KWM in the past year. In July 2015, the firm concluded a partnership review that resulted in more than 15 equity partners leaving the firm.

Earlier this month, the firm cut 37 support staff jobs from its legacy SJ Berwin arm as part of the restructuring.