Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is set to hire a two-lawyer patent litigation team from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London, led by partner Justin Watts.

Watts, who is Freshfields' only patent litigation partner in London, is understood to be joining WilmerHale alongside senior associate Matthew Shade, who will join the US firm as a partner.

The lateral hires will be the first for WilmerHale since it launched a London IP litigation practice with the hire of Dentons' then UK patents head Anthony Trenton in 2014.

They come after the US firm opted to close its offices in the City and Oxford as part of a move away from transactional work towards a focus on disputes, from its Mayfair base.

That decision resulted in a number of partners leaving, including then City head Joe Pillman. According to its website, the firm now has seven partners in its remaining London office, excluding the new recruits.

Watts joined Freshfields in 2003 from Bristows, where he had been a partner. He specialises in disputes involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, communications and computers, and also covers broader IP disputes in addition to patent work.

In 2014, he led the magic circle firm's team advising Apple on its design infringement claim against Samsung, as it attempted to prevent its tech rival from selling its Galaxy tablet across Europe in light of alleged similarities to its iPad.

WilmerHale counts Apple as a longstanding client, with US IP partner William Lee leading the firm's team advising in a major IP dispute with Samsung earlier this year.

The US firm saw a slight dip in revenue in 2016 to $1.1305bn (£909m), down less than 1% from 2015, with average profit per equity partner nudging up 3% to $1.86m (£1.5m).

Freshfields and WilmerHale declined to comment.