Beachcroft has expanded its London and Ireland bases with the hire of two new partners.

Former Blake Lapthorn partner Jimmy Desai has joined Beachcroft's City arm as a partner in the commercial services team.

Desai will sit within the UK top 30 firm's technology team and will work closely with sector head Tim Sewart, focusing on intellectual property, IT, data protection, privacy law and internet and media law. He has worked with a wide range of bluechip clients, public sector and government bodies as well as a number of universities.

Elsewhere, the firm has expanded in Dublin with the hire of litigator Lisa Broderick, who joined the firm's insurance team earlier this week (22 November) as a partner from local firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice.

Broderick established and headed up Matheson Ormsby's property litigation team and also advised on general commercial litigation, product liability matters and cross-jurisdictional disputes. She was a partner at the Irish firm for four years.

Broderick will be the fourth Irish partner in the Dublin office, which opened in March 2009 to cover insurance and health work. It is headed by insurance partner Katie da Gama, who joined the national firm to launch the Irish office from Matheson Ormsby.

Da Gama said: "We opened the Dublin office to respond to a requirement from Beachcroft's clients. Lisa's appointment is a clear indication that 18 months later this requirement is no less pertinent, and we intend to expand the office further over the next 18 months."