Howrey litigation co-chair Gary Bendinger and two other partners are set to join Sidley Austin, reports The Am Law Daily.

New York litigation partners Gregory Ballard and Kevin Burke will join Bendinger at Sidley. The trio have extensive experience representing accounting firms in liability litigation.

Sidley litigation partner Charles Douglas, chair of the firm's executive committee, said in a statement: "Gary, Greg, and Kevin are each respected and experienced litigators. They join our extremely active accountants liability practice and will enable us to significantly expand its scope in New York and throughout the world."

Bendinger, who has more than 30 years' experience in complex commercial litigation, specialises in representing major accounting firms.

One of Bendinger's largest clients is KPMG, which he has represented in litigation stemming from the 2005 collapse of commodities dealer Refco. Bendinger and his team have also worked for Deloitte, as well as handling more limited engagements for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young.

In addition to their accounting expertise, the partner trio have also handled a variety of work in other areas of litigation, while Ballard is a member of Howrey's management committee.

The news marks the latest in a long line of departures from Howrey this year. The firm also laid off 29 associates and 65 staff members in February after cutting 32 staff jobs in November 2009.

Howrey saw revenue fall by more than 16% in 2009 to $480m (£305m), while profits per equity partner (PEP) decreased 35% to $845,000 (£537,000).

Sidley Austin's 2009 revenue fell 9% to almost $1.4bn (£890m), while PEP increased 2% to nearly $1.5m (£953,000) as the firm decreased the number of its equity partners by 8.4%.

The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.