International law firm Simmons & Simmons has appointed Pollyanna Deane as a partner in its Corporate & Commercial Group in London. She joins the firm on 16 January 2012.

Pollyanna, who joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner, focuses on corporate transactional and regulatory advisory work in the insurance sector. Her clients include reinsurers, insurers, mutuals, intermediaries and service providers to the insurance industry.

Commenting on the appointment, Mark Curtis, international Head of Corporate & Commercial at Simmons & Simmons, said: “Pollyanna, who will work closely with our financial services team, will further expand our offering to our clients in the Financial Institutions sector and help to meet the growing client demands in the market.’’

Pollyanna said: “I’m delighted to be joining Simmons & Simmons and looking forward to working with them to develop the insurance practice to further enhance the already impressive offering.”

Pollyanna sits on the PLC Financial Services Board and is the General Editor for the Butterworths Financial Regulation Service.