Law firm Mayer Brown has taken on trade and export finance lawyer James Clarke as a partner.

Clarke joined the firm’s finance practice in London on August 13 from Baker McKenzie, where he had been a senior associate.

Clarke specialises in emerging markets, advising on export and agency finance, structured commodity finance and receivables finance, Mayer Brown said in a statement.

He has advised commercial lenders, including funds, as well as export credit agencies and multilateral banks, throughout his career.

Ash McDermott, a Mayer Brown partner, said Clarke’s experience could help the firm capitalise on greater export credit agency activity in commodity trade finance.

“Export and agency finance and commodity finance have converged in recent years,” he said. “There are few senior lawyers in the market who know both sectors as well as James and we are delighted to welcome him to Mayer Brown.”

Before joining Baker McKenzie in 2017, Clarke began his career at Hogan Lovells, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has also been seconded to Citi and Standard Chartered.