Paul Hastings has increased its leveraged finance capacity with a new hire in London.

Luke McDougall will join the firm from Ashurst's UK banking group. He advises on leveraged and acquisition finance and financial restructuring.

He acts primarily for lenders and sponsers including the likes of Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Nomura.

The firm announced that McDougall will work closely with another recent hire Peter Schwartz, a high-yield specialist and IFLR1000 Leading lawyer who joined the firm from Milbank in October 2014.

Before joining Ashurst McDougall had been an associate at Minter Ellison in Sydney. He is registered foreign lawyer in England and Wales.