Bird & Bird is set to target standalone UK tax advisory work after sealing the hire of a second City tax specialist.

The law firm has recruited LG partner Julian Hickey to practise alongside UK tax head Mathew Oliver – currently the firm's only dedicated London partner in the practice area.

Oliver said the hire would help the top 20 firm to better cover its existing internal workload, but will also mean it can target standalone tax advisory work for the first time.

Hickey has been a partner at LG since 2010, when he joined from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). He made partner at BLP in 2008 after joining from Watson Farley & Williams in 2006. His tax practice focuses on corporate, finance and real state tax, as well as dispute resolution work.

Bird & Bird said Hickey was a particularly good fit based on his experience in the firm's core area of IP, with Hickey holding a PhD in IP and tax, while he will also add litigation capacity to the City tax practice.

Oliver commented: "I've always wanted at least a second tax partner here and Julian's skills fit very well with what we do at Bird & Bird. At times it has been quite tough to cover the work with just one partner, but Julian's arrival should certainly help with that and will also give us the opportunity to develop external advisory work."

Bird & Bird recently lost a partner from its City base with the departure of finance veteran Charles Proctor to US firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge at the end of May.