The Washington offices of major law firms have lately been busy swelling their ranks with laterals from a variety of practice areas, including real estate, intellectual property, white collar and public affairs.

King & Spalding this week recruited real estate lawyer Julia Schmidt from Katten Muchin Rosenman. Schmidt, who was at Katten for eight years, becomes a partner in King & Spalding’s corporate, finance and investments practice group in D.C. Also this week, Vincent Shier has moved to Haynes and Boone as a partner in the firm’s patent prosecution practice. Shier previously spent 20 years at Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt.