Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer New York partner Doug Bacon has joined Kirkland & Ellis in Houston.

Bacon joins Kirkland as a corporate partner and has previously advised many of the US firm’s chief clients including KKR, TPG, Apax Partners and MSD Capital.

The move sees Bacon return to his hometown of Houston, after spending most of his working life in New York.

He joined Freshfields’ New York office as a partner in 2010 from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where he was an associate from 2000.

Kirkland opened in Houston in 2014, with four lawyers in the office making it in the firm’s promotions round for the first time this year.

The office was opened by Bacon’s former Simpson Thacher colleague Andrew Calder.

Kirkland’s Houston office is now made up of 93 lawyers focused on corporate, litigation, restructuring, tax and environmental work.

Over the summer, Freshfields executive partner Michael Lacovara left the firm for Latham & Watkins. The disputes partner had been based between New York and London but will relocate permanently to the US with his new role.