Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has enhanced its US practice with the hire of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft corporate partner Aly El Hamamsy.

El Hamamsy, a specialist in cross-border transactional matters, previously spent eight years at Davis Polk & Wardwell, working in both New York and Paris.

In 2009, he joined the National Basketball Association as managing director for the Middle East, before moving back to private practice in 2013, joining Cadwalader as special counsel and making partner last year.

While at Cadwalader, El Hamamsy advised clients such as Citigroup, Banco Santander, Barclays and Heinz, among others.

Freshfields US managing partner Peter Lyons said: "Aly is a prominent corporate attorney, with broad international legal and business experience that will be key to delivering enhanced value for our US and global clients."

Freshfields brought in a number of key US recruits last year, including Lyons, the former head of Shearman & Sterling's M&A practice, as well as former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz M&A partner Mitchell Presser and former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom banking partner James Douglas.

The additions followed the hire of Valerie Ford Jacob, a former senior partner at Fried Frank, who joined Freshfields in New York two years ago as part of a three-partner capital markets team hire.

El Hamamsy said: "Throughout my legal career I have seen and admired Freshfields' unique global platform and the firm's ability to support its clients across multiple geographies. The significant growth of the firm's US transactional practice is extraordinary, and I look forward to joining the New York corporate practice and building on its continued success."