Ashurst has bolstered its New York office with the hire of a new project finance partner, after a heavyweight departure from the team earlier this year.

The firm has appointed senior counsel Betty Cerini from U.S. outfit Hunton Andrews Kurth as a partner and co-chair of infrastructure in the Americas.

Ashurst said Cerini will serve as co-chair, alongside Andy Fraiser, of Ashurst's infrastructure team covering the Americas. Her mandate, the firm said, is to help drive forward the delivery of the project finance strategy in the U.S., Latin America and globally.

Cerini was formerly a partner at collapsed firm Dewey & Lebouef in its Latin American and project finance practices.

Her hire follows the exit of infrastructure specialist Vincent Casey, who left Ashurst earlier this year to rejoin U.S. outfit Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

"Projects and project finance sit at the heart of Ashurst's global strategy," Frasier, who is Ashurst's other co-chair of infrastructure in the Americas as well as its global project finance head and U.S. managing partner, said in a statement. "We are serious about our intention to be one of the world's leading projects firms and, across the globe, we have hired 10 lateral partners focused on this area in the last year. Betty is a critical part of that ambition."

Ashurst restructured its New York office two years ago and moved away from collateralised loan obligation work, with a number of partners leaving.

Speaking to Legal Week at the time, Ashurst chairman Ben Tidswell said the firm's aim was to build in projects and provide specialist expertise in areas such as energy and infrastructure.