Mayer Brown has boosted its London litigation ranks with the hire of two partners from Norton Rose Fulbright.

Sam Eastwood (above left), who currently heads Norton Rose's business ethics and anti-corruption group, is set to join the US firm's City office next month.

Investigations and compliance partner Jason Hungerford (above right), who is UK and US qualified, joined Mayer Brown today (23 July).

Eastwood has been at legacy Norton Rose since 1988 and has led the firm's business ethics and anti-corruption group since its launch a decade ago. He specialises in advising on anti-corruption issues in connection with companies' internal compliance policies and procedures, international business transactions and internal corporate investigations.

Hungerford joined Norton Rose as a senior associate in 2011 and was promoted to partner in 2015. His practice includes representing corporates and financial institutions in government and internal investigations, and advising on the design and testing of ethics and compliance programmes related to anti-bribery, economic sanctions, export controls, and anti-money laundering laws.

Mayer Brown global litigation and dispute resolution co-leader Ian McDonald said: "Sam and Jason are exceptionally talented lawyers who join Mayer Brown at a time when we are seeing increasing client demand for white-collar criminal defense, anti-corruption advice and sophisticated advice on economic sanctions and export restrictions imposed by governments around the world."

The pair's hire by Mayer Brown follows that of Fried Frank London finance head Stuart Brinkworth, revealed by Legal Week last month.

Prior to that, the US firm's last London lateral partner hire was in November 2017, when it brought in Jay Doraisamy from Dentons as co-head of the London pensions practice.

In April last year, Norton Rose's global head of investigations Chris Warren-Smith left the firm to join Morgan Lewis' City base, alongside dispute resolution partner Melanie Ryan. The firm's global head of antitrust and competition Martin Coleman, meanwhile, joined the Competition and Markets authority as a non-executive director after retiring from the firm.