Davenport Lyons and US firm Duane Morris have both recruited Eversheds partners as the firms look to strengthen their City offerings.

Property partner Andrew Li, who has been at Eversheds since early 2008, joins Davenport as the firm's fiftieth partner after a recent hiring spree which has seen lateral appointments from Olswang, Speechly Bircham and Hextalls.

Li acts for developers, lenders and trading companies in the healthcare, energy and investment sectors.

Davenport's head of property Janet Ayres commented: "We are delighted to be enjoying a particularly busy period at a time of considerable economic uncertainty in the property world. Andrew is our twelfth senior appointment in as many months and is part of our ongoing strategy to be the leading business law firm located in the West End."

Meanwhile, Jonathan Armstrong has also departed Eversheds to join US outfit Duane Morris as a partner in the US firm's London corporate practice.

Armstrong focuses on technology and compliance matters in the media, technology, manufacturing and financial services industries, working particularly on security breaches, internal investigations, consumer marketing and branding.

Duane Morris launched in London in 2000 and the office, which now has nine partners, remains the firm's sole branch in Europe. Outside of the US, the firm also has offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.