LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Tom Hine, former General Counsel and head of enforcement at the London Metal Exchange, has joined Acuity Law as a consultant partner, the UK-based commercial law firm said in a release.

Hine, who worked at the LME for 17 years, stepped down at the end of January to set up Cambitas, a consultancy specialising in exchanges and exchange-traded commodities. He will split his time between Acuity and Cambitas.

"Tom...was one of the youngest General Counsels ever at a major financial services organisation," said Adele Carter, commercial director at Acuity. "During his time at the London Metal Exchange, Tom saw the company through an extraordinary series of challenges."

Hine was General Counsel at the LME during the biggest crisis to hit the exchange in decades when the exchange suspended nickel trading for last March for the first time since 1988 and cancelled all trades on March 8.

More than a year after the nickel debacle, the exchange owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is still battling to restore nickel volumes and its reputation.

The LME is fighting a host of lawsuits for the cancelled trades and faces an unprecedented regulatory probe into potential misconduct which could last for years.

(Reporting by Pratima Desai; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)