London

U.S. firm Alston & Bird has opened a London office with the hire of former K&L Gates London finance head Andrew Petersen and a team of six other lawyers.

Alston & Bird is one of the last major U.S. firms to launch in London. Its focus will be centred around the firm's established finance and payments practices.

"There's been a boom in the payments sector because the way we all pay for things is changing," said Alston & Bird managing partner Richard Hays. "We have a significant practice in the payments area, handling digital banking, cryptocurrency, regulatory issues and M&A work."

The new London office will work closely with the Brussels office that Alston, based in Atlanta, opened in 2011 to extend its payments practice to Europe, Hays said. Alston's marquee payments practice originated in Atlanta, a hub for payments processors and fintech companies, and has expanded internationally over the years.

According to a statement by Petersen, the firm will gradually expand the practice.

"Alston has a terrific finance brand in the U.S., on both coasts, and we are going to build a premier U.S.-U.K. finance resource," he said.

Petersen left K&L Gates' London base in July after 12 years at the firm. He specialises in real estate private equity and private debt. Prior to joining K&L Gates, he held roles as a senior associate and counsel at Dechert for seven years.

Joining Petersen is James Spencer, also from K&L Gates. The two have practised together for more than 17 years, representing lenders and investors, including banks, debt funds and private equity funds, on financing transactions.

The two are also bringing with them two associates, and Hays said he expects more associates to join Petersen and Spencer from their previous firm.

Also joining Alston's London office is James Ashe-Taylor, a partner from New York-based Constantine Cannon, who practises payments and competition law. A former barrister, he represents clients in EU cartel investigations and antitrust litigation, and he advises on U.K. and EU financial regulatory issues, including the EU's Directive on Payment Services.

Ashe-Taylor headed Constantine Cannon's European antitrust practice and is the former partner-in-charge for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's London and Brussels offices. He is also bringing two associates.

Alston payments partner Rich Willis, the partner-in-charge for its Brussels office, will take the same role for the London office.

Alston currently has no plans to build a full-service office in London, Hays said. Rather, the firm opened the office, which has been in the works for about a year, to serve its payments and finance clients in Europe.

The new office marks the 12th for Alston – and the third internationally, after Brussels and Beijing. The Atlanta-headquartered firm's most recent revenue hit $812.3 million, while its revenue per lawyer reached $994,000. It currently has 817 lawyers including 151 equity partners.

During the last financial year, Alston expanded its west coast practice with hires in Los Angeles, adding lawyers from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and a team of class-action lawyers from DLA Piper.

In San Francisco, the firm added products liability litigator Steven Selna from Drinker Biddle & Reath, who headed that firm's office.

Alston also invested in its finance practice, adding a five-lawyer team of restructuring lawyers in New York.

It is one of the first major U.S. firms to launch in London since Cooley made its dramatic entrance in 2015, with the hire of a 55-lawyer team from Morrison & Foerster and Edwards Wildman.

Reporter Meredith Hobbs in Atlanta contributed to this story.