The joint head of Clifford Chance's Communications, Media and Technology Group in Hong Kong has quit the magic circle firm to join the rival practice at Bird & Bird.

Together with senior associate Gordon Milner, CC partner Nigel Stamp will team up with his new colleagues in October.

Spending 10 years in software development for NEC and Nomura before qualifying as a solicitor, Stamp helped establish CC's highly rated Hong Kong CMT practice in 2000.

He said the Hong Kong office of Bird & Bird is "highly dedicated towards progressing the firm's technology practice and this offers a very exciting opportunity for me".

Matthew Laight, Bird & Bird's office managing partner, described the appointment of Stamp as "an excellent fit". He added: "There are important synergies between Bird & Bird's strong CMT focus and Nigel's deep knowledge of the sector. He has worked on a number of groundbreaking and high profile IT and e-commerce projects and has first hand experience of the sector having worked in senior management in leading technology dependant companies."