Squire Patton Boggs has announced the appointment of Litigation partner Chris Webber, who has joined the firm from Berwin Leighton Paisner.

Mr. Webber’s practice focuses on banking litigation, and he has developed particular expertise in disputes involving structured finance and derivatives, financial products mis-selling, financial insolvency, and complex financial regulatory issues. He acts for financial services clients including investment and retail banks, broker dealers, corporate trustees, special servicers, investment funds and regulatory bodies, as well as corporate clients and individuals. Mr. Webber has also spent time on secondment at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Group Litigation team.

Laurence Winston, UK head of Litigation at Squire Patton Boggs, said: “The firm’s combination with Patton Boggs 18 months ago, as well as our increased strength and presence in Washington DC and the Middle East, has led to a major uptick in financial, bank regulatory and compliance disputes for our team in London. Taken in tandem with the substantial volume of work we handle from the CIS and Far East, we have seen an increase in disputes turnover of over 45% in London in the past year.

“This growth in demand for litigation services has led to the expansion of our team; Chris is one of six senior litigation lawyers to join the firm in London in recent months, and we are delighted to welcome him on board. Chris is a high calibre litigator whose arrival will add strength to our team and enhance our offering to clients.”

Robert Weekes, managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs in London, added: “Chris brings experience that presents real and obvious synergies across a number of different practices. He will not only expand the already impressive capabilities of our Litigation Practice in London, but he will also add real depth to the services offered by our Financial Services Practice and our pre-eminent asset based lending team in the UK; we are delighted to welcome Chris to the London office.”