The chief legal and policy officer of electric scooter company Bird Rides Inc. is flying the company's coop in Santa Monica, California, to join Nuro Inc., a robotics firm that builds self-driving delivery vehicles. 

David Estrada is headed to Nuro's headquarters in Mountain View, California, to be closer to his family, according to Bird spokeswoman Rebecca Hahn. He joined Bird, a startup now valued at $2.5 billion, in March 2018.

"David Estrada helped bring micro-mobility alternatives to millions throughout the world. He is leaving Bird to be closer to his family and we wish him and his family all the best," Hahn wrote in an email Thursday.

A Nuro representative confirmed Estrada's hiring but declined further comment. Attempts to reach Estrada were not immediately successful. 

He is walking away from a growing e-scooter industry that seems hungry for legal talent. At the moment, Lime, Revel Mopeds and Lyft Inc. are looking for in-house lawyers.  

As Bird's chief lawyer, Estrada has helped the company navigate evolving laws and regulations, local government and public backlashes over e-scooter invasions and lawsuits bubbling up throughout the country. 

At Nuro, which has raised more than $1 billion from SoftBank Corp. and other investment partners, Estrada will once again be at the helm of a legal department for a tech startup forging new territory. The company's first product is a self-driving delivery service for groceries and other goods. 

Estrada began his in-house career in 2000 as senior corporate counsel for Yahoo. He went on to serve as an associate general counsel for YouTube; legal director for Google X, the search giant's research and development arm; vice president of government relations for Lyft; and chief legal officer for Kitty Hawk, which makes battery-powered aircraft. 

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Estrada told his alma mater's Transcript Magazine that his introduction to self-driving car technology while at Google X made him realize that "figuring out the legal and regulatory space for new technologies without a clear legal framework could be my sweet spot.

"It's like I finally realized after all these years what I really loved doing," he added.

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