King & Spalding has added two partners to its London disputes practice with the hire of a Bird & Bird litigation duo.

Jane Player – the joint head of the UK firm's international dispute resolution practice – and fellow Bird & Bird partner Sarah Walker will join King & Spalding later this year, taking the number of partners in the US firm's London office to 15.

Player, who focuses on commercial contractual claims, became a partner at DLA Piper in 1994, and was appointed head of litigation in London the following year before joining Bird & Bird in 2002.

Walker, meanwhile, joined Bird & Bird as a partner from DLA in 2005. She focuses on dispute evaluation and resolution, arbitration and mediation.

The two litigators will work alongside arbitrator Tom Sprange, King & Spalding's most recent recruit from Steptoe & Johnson, as well as the US firm's international arbitration practice in Paris.

Sprange joined King & Spalding in May last year to launch a London dispute resolution practice for the firm. His hire came after two other London laterals – competition lawyer Suzanne Rab from Hogan Lovells and corporate partner Martin Hunt from Bracewell & Giuliani.

Player's disputes co-head at Bird & Bird, Vonnick le Guillou, who is based in Paris, will continue to run the practice for the firm following the departures, while disputes partner Ludovic de Walden will continue to lead the practice in the UK.