DLA Piper has confirmed the hire of a four-partner corporate and litigation team from Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York, as the embattled US firm's Northern California intellectual property (IP) litigation group breaks away to form a new boutique.

The four-partner group joining DLA includes corporate partner Berge Setrakian and Margaret Civetta, the former managing partner of Dewey's Madrid office and co-managing partner of the firm's Paris office, as well as litigators Kevin Walsh and Gassan Baloul.

Setrakian, the former chairman of Dewey's Middle East practice group, has worked with major clients including Telefonica and Iberdrola. He joined legacy LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae along with Civetta in 2005 from Winston & Strawn.

Meanwhile, Dewey's California IP litigation group, which is led by San Francisco partners Henry Bunsow and Denise DeMory, is splitting off to form new boutique Bunsow & DeMory after turning down offers from a number of firms, according to The Recorder.

Bunsow, who joined Dewey from the dissolving Howrey in January 2011, said: "We don't want to do something quickly. We did that last time with Dewey, and it did not turn out so well. We will take our time until we either decide that we are or are not comfortable with another firm opportunity. If that takes a few months, so be it."

Joining Bunsow & DeMory are two partners, seven associates and support staff. "It was very important that we keep our group together and not leave any associates behind as other groups at Dewey have done," Bunsow added. "We created this group over many years of recruiting and it would be impossible to replicate." Dewey's California offices are set to close next Tuesday (15 May).

The news comes as Dewey has found itself hit with its first suit under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, according to The Am Law Daily, while US regulators are moving to take over its underfunded pension plans.

Vittoria Conn, a document specialist who has worked at Dewey since 1999, has filed an 11-page complaint against the firm in US district court in Manhattan. She accuses Dewey of failing to abide by state and federal laws requiring employers to provide between 60 and 90 days' notice of a mass layoff of more than 100 employees.

The suit seeks class certification status on behalf of 450 employees who have been terminated at Dewey between 7 and 11 May, according to the complaint. Conn is seeking 60 days' pay and benefits for herself and all other similarly situated Dewey workers.

At the same time, federal regulators are taking steps to seize pension plans at Dewey that face a shortfall of more than $80m (£50m), according to The Wall Street Journal. Dewey reportedly has only $127m (£79m) in assets to offset $214m (£133m) in pension obligations as it faces a 15 May deadline with its lender banks JPMorgan Chase, Citi Private Bank, Bank of America and HSBC.
 
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, an independent US government agency that protects pensions by charging insurance premiums on employers, said in a statement that it will take responsibility for three pension plans covering nearly 1,800 Dewey employees.
 
As of Thursday, almost 180 of Dewey's 300 partners had left the firm since the beginning of the year. Several key partners still remain at the firm, including Martin Bienenstock and Charles Landgraf, the last two remaining members of Dewey's office of the chairman.

Bienenstock, who joined Dewey in 2007, is reportedly set to join Proskauer Rose, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Additional reporting by Julie Triedman and Ross Todd. The Am Law Daily and The Recorder are US affiliate titles of Legal Week.