National firm Weightmans has been hit with the loss of six partners from its London arm, including office head Mark Whittaker.

Whittaker and five other partners jointly gave six months' notice earlier this month (4 September) that they were to join DWF.

The other five partners leaving Weightmans are Innes Ebert, Perry Hill, Seema Jobanputra, Dan Mitchell and Carys Oatham. All specialise in defendant personal injury and property recovery work.

As well as heading up the northwest firm's London operation, Whittaker is also a member of the public sector team, where he has handled high-value and complex cases.

As a temporary measure, firm senior partner Ian Evans will take charge of the London operations until a replacement is found.

The losses take the number of partners for the firm from 101 to 95. Weightmans chairman Patrick Gaul said: "It is a disappointment that the partners have decided to leave, but the strategy is to carry on building the London office."

DWF managing partner Andrew Leaitherland added: "These latest appointments are in line with our plans to grow our insurance practice in the capital and further strengthen our national capability. They will also help us to build our expertise in local authority-related insurance work. DWF acts for 23 local authorities and these partners will enable us to cross-sell additional services to our client base."

The news follows Weightmans' launch of a catastrophic injury team in London. The team will be led by loss and technical claims partner Elaine Chapman, a rehabilitation industry specialist.

DWF's London office, its first outside the North of the UK, was launched in June with the arrival of Graham Dickinson, the former head of catastrophic injury at Davies Lavery, and another member of his team, partner Claire Bowler.

Earlier this year DWF repositioned itself by unveiling a major reshuffle of its management structure, appointing HR practice head Leaitherland as its first-ever managing partner.

At 36, Leaitherland is one of the youngest-ever managing partners at a major commercial UK firm. The firm also replaced its eight-member management board with a six-member strategic board.