Campbell Hooper has taken on former Taylor Woodrow solicitor Bill Bidder to head the firm’s House Builder Group.
Bidder was head of legal at one of the company’s subsidiaries Taywood Homes, as well as being a board member and legal director of Taylor Woodrow Developments.
Hooper, who joins the firm on 14 April, takes over from former group head Stephen Siddall, who will become a consultant as of 1 July.
However, it is thought unlikely that the firm will receive commercial property instructions from Taylor Woodrow. In February it had a major panel shake-up appointing just two firms, Eversheds and CMS Cameron McKenna, to share the work between them.
Freshfields gains antitrust capability in China
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has launched a China-based antitrust practice, headed by partner Thomas Jones. Partners Doug Markel in Beijing and Carl Cheng in Shanghai will work with Jones. The launch coincides with the new basic merger control regime by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation.
