Three Lovells lawyers have quit the firm to launch a New York office for Minneapolis-based firm Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, reports The Am Law Daily.

The trio – partners David Leichtman (pictured) and Hillel Parness and of counsel Bryan Vogel, who will join Robins Kaplan as a partner – are based in New York and focus on intellectual property (IP) and the pursuit of claims on behalf of artists against corporations that appropriate the works of those artists.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is a major client of the Lovells group, and Leichtman and Parness have represented them in high-profile cases against Verizon and other companies over royalties from songs used as mobile phone ringtones.