Alston & Bird has expanded its new London office with a partner hire.

The firm, which opened its arm in the city last year, has bolstered the base with Reed Smith finance partner James Fisher.

He joined Reed Smith in 2012 as a senior associate and was promoted to partner in 2015. During his time at the firm he was seconded to BNY Mellon's corporate trust legal team.

At Reed Smith, he specialised in structured finance, securitisation and derivatives work.

His practice fits within the firm's plan for the base, which is to focus on its established finance and payments offerings. Speaking to Law.com International's U.K. arm, Legal Week, Alston & Bird's finance co-head Shanell Cramer said: "One of our goals when we opened in London from a firm and finance practice perspective was to emulate the depth and growth of our practice in U.S. practices in London.

"Trustee and assets work is really key to our clients in the U.S. working in London and Europe, so it was really important to bring a consistent approach to our work for them. James is a perfect match for that work and we already work with one of his primary clients."

The office launched in September 2019 with the hire of K&L Gates London finance head Andrew Petersen and a team of six other lawyers.

Petersen told Legal Week that the firm has other hires in the pipeline, adding: "We need to continue to grow – London is ultra-competitive and you need to be a certain size to be taken seriously."

The firm was one of the last major U.S. firms to launch in London since Cooley's dramatic entrance to the market in 2015, when it hired a 55-lawyer team from Morrison & Foerster and Edwards Wildman.

A Reed Smith spokesperson said: "I can confirm that James will be leaving the firm. We thank him for his contributions and wish him well for the future."

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