Minneapolis firm Dorsey & Whitney has taken over San Francisco IP boutique Flehr Hohbach Albritton & Herbert.

The 27-lawyer IP team will help launch Dorseys' second major Californian office. The firm already has West Coast offices in Orange County and Seattle, Washington.

The merger will also give Dorseys a small office in Palo Alto and adds a substantial IP litigation practice to the 750-lawyer firm's existing 120-lawyer IP practice.

Since the dotcom crash two years ago West Coast lawyers have increasingly become targets for larger more diversified rivals. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, McDermott Will & Emery and Sullivan & Cromwell have all made opportunistic hires in California recently.

Dorseys has invested heavily over the past three years in a bid to build its international presence. The strategy has included handling corporate and IP work for European clients through its London office.