David Howard, the co-chair of the white-collar and securities litigation group at Dechert, is leaving the firm to become corporate vice president and deputy general counsel in charge of litigation at Microsoft, reports The Am Law Daily.

Howard will move to Microsoft in early August, and will report directly to the company's general counsel, Brad Smith, a former partner at US firm Covington & Burling.

The news comes almost a month after Dechert announced that prominent litigation partner Andrew Levander would replace current firm chairman and CEO Barton Winokur as chairman by mid-2011.

Despite Dechert not being one of Microsoft's preferred providers of outside legal services, Winokur said that Howard has previously handled compliance work and other matters for the company, adding that "they've had the chance to see just how good he is."

Winokur said that he considered Howard one of his trusted advisers in leading Dechert through a period of growth and change.

New York-based Dechert partner William Dodds will continue to serve as co-chair of the firm's white-collar and securities litigation group, Winokur confirmed, with a replacement for Howard not yet named.

In a statement, Howard said: "I've had the privilege of working on fascinating cases with extraordinary lawyers, and I have established friendships that I know will endure. I am proud of the way Dechert has evolved during my tenure here and of the role I played in that growth."

Microsoft's in-house legal and corporate affairs department has more than 1,000 employees, including 459 lawyers across 44 countries.

The Am Law Daily is a blog on law.com, Legal Week's US sister title.

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