Clifford Chance (CC) has lost its Americas head of litigation and dispute resolution, with Juan Morillo joining Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington DC.

The departure will be seen as a blow to the magic circle firm, which heavily restructured its US litigation practice two years ago.

Morillo (pictured), who had been a partner at CC since joining from Sidley Austin in 2007, became head of CC's US litigation practice in 2009, when the firm lost global practice head Mark Kirsch. Kirsch's departure had followed a string of partner departures and associate layoffs.

Morillo's departure leaves CC with 12 litigation partners in the US, of which eight are based in Washington DC.

The magic circle firm has appointed Washington DC managing partner David DiBari to head its Americas litigation and dispute resolution practice.

Morillo commented: "Over the last few years my practice has expanded domestically and internationally. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of Cleary Gottlieb's strong domestic and international reputation across many practice areas and am excited to be joining this top-ranked and growing global litigation group."

A CC spokesperson said: "We're enthusiastic about the election of David DiBari as the Americas practice area leader for litigation & dispute resolution. David is a highly-respected Clifford Chance partner with 22 years at our firm. He received strong support from his fellow partners and is the natural choice for the role given his management experience and his position on the leadership teams for the Americas, and the global litigation practice."

Separately, Cleary has also announced the hire of finance partner David Becker to the Washington DC office. Becker, who was previously a partner with Cleary, joins after a stint as general counsel and senior policy director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Click here for more on Mark Kirsch's departure from CC