The founder of Morrison & Foerster's government contracts practice and another former attorney at the firm who most recently led McKinsey & Co.'s public sector legal team have joined King & Spalding, following a four-lawyer corporate team from their old firm that made the leap in October.

Rick Vacura, the former chair of government contracts and public procurement at Morrison & Foerster, will lead the government contracts practice area at King & Spalding, while Steve Cave will be a partner at the firm.

Both attorneys will be part of the firm's special matters and government investigations team, working out of King & Spalding's Washington, D.C., office and a new space in Northern Virginia.

"Rick and Steve have extensive law firm and in-house experience, which allows them to navigate complex government contracts regulations, particularly as they counsel our highly-acquisitive defense and technology-focused clients," Wick Sollers, head of the firm's government matters practice group, said in a statement Tuesday. "They are a superb team who worked together in private practice for many years, and their knowledge and insight will strengthen our national security, False Claims Act, government investigations and CFIUS teams."

Vacura has litigated cases involving major weapons, communications and space systems, software development, prime/subcontract disputes, bid protests and procurement fraud. He spent over 18 years at Morrison & Foerster. At McKinsey, Cave served as associate general counsel and vice president of legal. He left for McKinsey in January 2019 after a little more than four years at Morrison & Foerster representing government contractors.

Cave pointed to the firm's global reach as one key reason he and Vacura were excited to join King & Spalding. He added that the recent arrival of several of their former Morrison & Foerster colleagues demonstrated the firm would be a welcoming destination.

"The cultural fit is only reinforced more by the fact that several of our colleagues joined in October," he said.

Larry Yanowitch, Charles Katz, Tom Knox and Jeremy Schropp all exited Morrison & Foerster's soon-to-be shuttered Northern Virginia office to join King & Spalding four months ago. Among their clients are a number of significant government contractors, including SAIC, defense contractor ManTech International, and management and IT consultants Booz Allen.

"Government contracts expertise is a perfect complement to our leading regulatory, litigation and corporate offerings in Washington, D.C.," Mark Jensen, managing partner of King & Spalding's D.C. office said in a statement.

"We thank Rick for his contributions to the firm and wish him well in this next endeavor," said a spokesperson for Morrison & Foerster.