DLA Piper has bulked up its Scottish arm with the hire of Dundas & Wilson partner David Morton as its new regional head of banking.

Morton joined DLA Piper's Glasgow office last week to head up the firm's Scottish banking team, becoming the second partner in the group, which sits within the broader finance and projects practice.

He specialises in corporate banking, with a focus on acquisition finance. His hire makes him the fourth new partner to join DLA Piper in Scotland so far this year.

Morton has been a partner with Dundas for 14 years, working with the firm's debt, restructuring and recovery group in Glasgow.

He said: "This represented an opportunity that was too good to pass up. The firm's banking practice in Scotland is a young dynamic practice with the power of the DLA Piper brand behind it.

"The plan going forward is definitely to grow the team and focus on making a real impact in the market. There is no timescale for this yet, but we will be looking at our strategy closely over the next few months."

DLA Piper has 24 partners across its Scottish offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with each office housing 12 partners.

The hire comes after the appointment of restructuring partner John Gallacher in October from local outfit Bell & Scott, where he was head of the housing and regeneration team.