DLA Piper has confirmed the hire of a four-partner corporate and litigation team from Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York, as the embattled US firm’s Northern California intellectual property (IP) litigation group breaks away to form a new boutique.

The four-partner group joining DLA includes corporate partner Berge Setrakian and Margaret Civetta, the former managing partner of Dewey’s Madrid office and co-managing partner of the firm’s Paris office, as well as litigators Kevin Walsh and Gassan Baloul.