DLA Piper has made two senior hires from Addleshaw Goddard's Leeds office, including the firm's contentious construction head Mark Hilton.

Hilton and fellow contentious construction partner Simon Palmer – both of whom are top ranked by Chambers for Yorkshire construction – join DLA after arriving at Addleshaws in 2005 as part of a five-partner construction team from Squire Sanders legacy firm Hammonds.

Hilton, who is joining DLA's London office, has extensive experience of arbitration and has worked on disputes across domestic and international markets, including the Middle East and the Far East.

Meanwhile, Palmer, who is joining DLA's Sheffield base, was formerly global head of construction at Hammonds from 2000 to 2005 and has experience of ICC arbitrations, mediations, adjudications and technology and construction court litigation. He is also a former partner at Eversheds.

Their start dates at DLA are yet to be confirmed.

UK head of real estate and partner at DLA Simon Cookson said: "Given the current economic climate and the inevitable rise of construction disputes, the appointment of Mark and Simon will also greatly add to DLA Piper's wider offering."

The hires for DLA come after news recently emerged that the firm is set to see the departure of a quartet of real estate partners from its Manchester office, including local practice chief Anita Weightman. The partners have handed in their resignations at DLA and are set to join Irwin Mitchell.

The exits for Addleshaws also follow last week's news that senior partner Monica Burch has been re-elected for a new term at the helm of the firm.

A spokesperson for Addleshaws said: "Our construction litigation team is made up of three partners and 20 other experienced fee earners.

"We remain committed to construction litigation and arbitration and are excited about what our team – led by Jonathan Tattersall and John Emerton in the UK, and Andrew Greaves in Dubai – can achieve in the future: we see great opportunities in the UK and internationally."