Mayer Brown poaches Pinsent Curtis partner

US firm Mayer Brown & Platt has lured corporate finance partner David Levin from Pinsent Curtis in its latest bid to expand its London office.

Levin will join the Chicago firm's London practice from Pinsents' City office in September. He is Mayer Brown's third lateral partner hire this year, as the firm aims to double the size of its London operation by summer 2000.

His recruitment follows the arrival of project finance partners Nigel Weiss and Steven Janes, who joined Mayer Brown in March from Masons, revealed by The Lawyer (February 22).

Ian Coles, Mayer Brown's London managing partner, says there was a lot of competition for Levin's services. "David is a real catch, and we are particularly pleased he has accepted our offer," says Coles.

As well as expanding the London practice, Mayer Brown decided at the start of the year to recruit more English lawyers, and Coles says Levin's arrival is a key element in this change.

"David's arrival will give us additional depth on the UK side of our corporate practice and help us shift the balance in our work, where transatlantic deals have tended to dominate, in favour of deals in the UK and continental Europe," he says.

Levin's clients are mainly in utilities, banking and telecoms, and he will help expand Mayer Brown's e-commerce and telecoms practices, says Coles. He says it would be "indiscreet" to reveal Levin's clients, which include FTSE 100 companies.

Levin says Mayer Brown "offers a tremendous platform and the excitement of an increasingly global reach with great stability in the London market".