K&L Gates has just pulled in its second top lawyer in the past year from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This time it's Neil Smith, former senior counsel in the SEC's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit.

After investigating FCPA cases globally over the last seven years for the SEC, Smith joined the firm July 27 as a partner in the firm's investigations, enforcement and white-collar practice in Boston.

Among other high-profile FCPA cases Smith handled at the SEC, he co-led the civil investigation into Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and its executives that resulted in a $413 million global settlement last September—$200 million of it civil and $213 million criminal. It was the SEC's first probe of a major hedge fund.