Irwin Mitchell's London real estate practice has been hit by the resignations of five partners, including a four-partner team that is joining Dentons.

London real estate head Rob Thompson is joining Dentons alongside real estate partners Lewis Myers and Rupert Dowdell, and corporate real estate partner Jayne Schnider, while London planning and infrastructure head Martha Grekos is joining Howard Kennedy.

The latest resignations from the City real estate team follow those of partners Jo Footitt and Louise Cartwright, who resigned in June to join Osborne Clarke (OC). Real estate associates Emma McPeake and Anna Foster are also understood to have resigned from Irwin Mitchell in recent weeks to join Footitt and Cartwright at OC.

The departures will leave the firm with five real estate partners in London, including Ayesha Hasan, who joined from Locke Lord in 2014; construction specialist Gordon Anderson, who joined from Herbert Smith Freehills in January; and three who joined the firm as part of its merger with Thomas Eggar – Ian Silverblatt, James Letchford and real estate disputes partner Richard Brown.

Irwin Mitchell CEO Andrew Tucker is understood to have announced the resignations to the London real estate team yesterday.

An Irwin Mitchell spokesman said: "Our business legal services team has been growing quickly and we have seen a number of people join us in recent weeks and months. As with any other business, however, people also leave from time to time and we wish Rob, Lewis, Rupert and Jayne well in their next ventures."

The latest exits mark the continuing disintegration of the 20-strong real estate team that moved from legacy SJ Berwin to Irwin Mitchell in 2010. That team, led by former SJ Berwin real estate head Jon Vivian, left SJ Berwin amid ultimately unsuccessful merger talks with US firm Proskauer Rose.

Vivian, who is now a consultant at Irwin Mitchell, joined the firm alongside SJ Berwin partners Myers, Thompson and Footitt. Of the three SJ Berwin associates who joined Irwin Mitchell as partners, only finance partner Simon Tweedle remains with the firm.

Dentons UK managing partner Brandon Ransley said: "This is an excellent opportunity for us to acquire a market-leading, real estate-focused practice. This group of partners have worked together for many years and their arrival will add heavyweight investment expertise to our credentials, while significantly enhancing our existing capacity to deliver the corporate and finance aspects of big-ticket real estate transactions, both in the UK and internationally."

The news comes after three partners resigned from Irwin Mitchell this March – London employment head Chris Tutton and litigators Simon Ellis and Daniel Brumpton.

Irwin Mitchell merged with Thomas Eggar in December last year, adding 67 partners – a move driven in part by a desire to target the private client sector.

Irwin Mitchell's statement adds:  "The merger added 32 BLS partners, including a London real estate team, and we have also added seven further partners to BLS in 2016 alone. We will continue to progress our strategy and invest in profitable areas of BLS and the wider group – including in our real estate teams across the UK, the rest of BLS and the wider group."

For more, see Irwin Mitchell betting on private client work to drive growth post-Thomas Eggar merger.