Washington DC firm Arnold & Porter has boosted its New York arm with an eight-partner raid on Dorsey & Whitney.

The partners from Dorsey's New York arm are from the litigation and transactional practices, and include the Minneapolis-based firm's New York head James Swire.

Swire, an IP litigation specialist, is joined by Dorsey's former head of financial services, Michael Griffin, and corporate partners JP Bruynes, Robert Wessely and Robert Holton.

The group also includes Dorseys co-head of international litigation and arbitration group Ramon Marks and co-head of securities litigation Stewart Aaron and the head of Dorsey's Toronto branch, Grant Vingoe.

Arnold & Porter chairman Mike Sohn commented: "This is a significant step in our strategy to grow and diversify our New York office. "We are adding a top-tier hedge funds practice and increasing our depth in core transactional and litigation practice areas."