Energy and infrastructure finance partner Derwin Jenkinson has left Ashurst to join Paul Hastings in the latest lateral hire by the US-headquartered firm.

The hire by the firm’s London finance team follows the dual hires of Peter Hayes and Mei Lian from Shearman & Sterling in recent months. Jenkinson, a partner at Ashurst for seven years, previously worked at Clifford Chance as a senior associate, where he trained and qualified.

He brings with him debt and capital markets experience in infrastructure matters, including project finance and restructuring experience, though his core expertise spans all forms of debt finance.

His client base is broad, having worked for governments, banks, infrastructure majors, sponsors, rating agencies and institutional investors, among others.

Seth Zachary, chairman of Paul Hastings, said: “Derwin’s addition builds on our track record in London of attracting dynamic talent in the areas clients need it the most,” with the firm also having invested in similar talent in Europe and the United States.

Derwin signalled that the opportunity to work with Paul Hastings’ energy and infrastructure veteran Steven Bryan, who joined from Hogan Lovells in 2019, was too great to turn down, adding that the move was a great opportunity for him to work with his new colleagues Bryan, Hayes and Lian to help grow the practice further. 

Hayes and Lian have more than two decades of experience in top-end London finance work, strengthening the firm’s finance offering, to which Jenkinson adds appropriate sectoral expertise to Bryan’s own insights. 

Paul Hastings has seen its own exits however, with Hogan Lovells’ welcoming back corporate partners Ed Harris and Leanne Moezi, who left Paul Hastings less than a year after joining the US firm in London, while Adam Brown departed Paul Hastings’ Washington DC office for Hogan Lovells in Northern Virginia.