Latham & Watkins London litigation chair Simon Bushell has left the firm to join Signature Litigation.

Bushell joined the US firm from Herbert Smith Freehills in 2013 and became chair of its City litigation department a year later.

At Latham, he practised in international commercial litigation and arbitration and represented a broad range of clients, including large corporates, private equity houses, financial institutions and banks.

Prior to joining Latham, he spent 26 years at Herbert Smith – where he founded the firm's Russian dispute resolution practice – including 16 as a partner. During his time at the firm, he acted as lead adviser to Tajik Aluminium Company (Talco) on a long-running dispute against nine former trading partners, a case which ran for several years and earned Herbert Smith around $100m (£64m).

Bushell commented: "Signature has a formidable reputation as a conflict-free, exclusively disputes-focused firm, with a fearless approach to handling complex cases. I am relishing the opportunity to add to their compelling platform."

The City litigation boutique was founded in 2012 by former Hogan Lovells partner Graham Huntley. It boosted its ranks in 2015 with the hire of litigation partner Julian Connerty from Clyde & Co.

Huntley said: "Simon's strong reputation, especially in civil fraud, speaks for itself. We have grown substantially and Signature is a strong platform for another senior litigator such as him. He is highly commercial, imaginative and a great tactician – all skills that Simon will maximise here at Signature."

Last year, Latham made a slew of partner additions to its City base. The most recent of these was the hire of Herbert Smith Freehills global energy co-head John Balsdon, who is set to join in April.

In October, Legal Week revealed that Allen & Overy (A&O) M&A partner Edward Barnett had become the latest magic circle lateral hire for the US firm. That move came three months after Latham sealed the hire of A&O's former banking head Stephen Kensell, with Latham now havng hired some 13 partners in London since the start of 2016.