Allen & Overy litigation partner Marc Florent has left the Magic Circle firm's London office to join Baker McKenzie.

Florent had been a partner at A&O since 2002, having joined the firm from rival Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer two years previously.

He had spent nearly a decade at Freshfields, having joined as an articled clerk in 1990.

Florent previously led A&O's insolvency litigation practice.

In 2003, he advised administrators KPMG on the collapse of the European arm of U.S. power group TXU – previously one of Britain's biggest power suppliers.

He also covers banking and finance litigation work.

Baker McKenzie financial institutions global chair Jonathan Peddie said in a statement that Florent's experience made him a "perfect fit" as the firm looks to build out its financial sector platform, also noting that he would "add significantly" to its contentious offering.

The international firm has strengthened its London base with several hires so far this year.

Meanwhile, Florent's exit is the second A&O London partner departure to emerge within recent weeks.

Former A&O U.K. banking, finance and regulatory practice co-head Mona Vaswani is leaving the Magic Circle outfit to join U.S. rival Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in London.

The departures are rare exits for A&O's London office, though the firm saw two high-profile litigation partners leave last year.

German dispute resolution head Daniel Busse left the firm to launch his own disputes boutique last autumn, while earlier in 2018 global intellectual property head Nicola Dagg quit to join Kirkland & Ellis in London.

The latest exits come amid ongoing merger discussions between A&O and U.S. firm O'Melveny & Myers, which has a strong focus on disputes work.