Laurie Hammond has joined London-headquartered firm Keystone Law as a partner. 

Hammond has 20 years of experience across all areas of trade at major international law firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright and Hogan Lovells. 

The trade finance lawyer, who joined the firm at the start of October, will “support the provision of English law trade finance advisory services and opinions for trade transactions and clients” at Keystone, she told GTR. 

“My focus is going to be industrial cross-border trade – Keystone have a few people that do trade, but they don’t have a dedicated specialist.  

“That’s quite a nice niche for me to add to their business as well,” Hammond added. 

Unlike traditional law firms, new partners at Keystone don’t necessarily own a share in the business – the term is “representative of experience and whether you’re sufficiently qualified”, Hammond explained. 

The firm has automated several administrative processes through its proprietary IT platform that help lessen the documentation load on lawyers and allow them to “focus on what they do best”, she added. 

Hammond said Keystone’s model, which revolves around offering its lawyers “freedom, flexibility and autonomy”, was “quite refreshing” and that she was “excited” to join the company. 

The trade law expert has also recently founded a tech platform called DealFlow to help digitise and streamline trade finance transactions, with its software set to debut at the GTR Africa event in London next month.