Steven Grimberg has been named the new general counsel of the Americas for global investigations firm Nardello & Co.

According to the announcement of his hire on Monday, Grimberg, who officially joined the firm this month, will also head Nardello's Atlanta office.

Prior to joining Nardello, Grimberg worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, acting as an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of the Economic Crimes Section. There, he prosecuted white-collar criminal cases and developed and led the office's cyber crime unit.

The opportunity to work for Nardello came through a referral from Mark Ray, one of Grimberg's former colleagues. Ray now serves as Nardello's head of digital investigations and cyber defense in Atlanta.

“Mark and I worked so well together when he was at the FBI and I was at the U.S. Attorney's Office in some of the most complex investigations in the country, many with national security implications,” Grimberg told Corporate Counsel on Monday. “The chance to work with him again at Nardello was a big selling point.” 

Among the most high-profile cases Grimberg worked on while with the U.S. Attorney's Office was the investigation and prosecution for one of the largest known data breaches in history, in which three individuals hacked U.S. email service providers. He was also involved in prosecuting individuals involved in the Citadel and SpyEye malware strains that resulted in $1 billion worth of losses for consumers and financial institutions.

Prior to working for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta, Grimberg was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2005 to 2010.

Before going into the public sector, Grimberg was an associate with Hunton & Williams, Muller Mintz and Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox.

“Steve's legal acumen, coupled with his deep understanding of complex financial fraud investigations and crisis management experience in the cybercrime arena will be a tremendous addition to our deep bench of talent,” said Dan Nardello, founder and CEO of the firm, in a press release Monday. “He is a proven leader, having developed one of the leading cyber-crime units in the U.S. Department of Justice and having helped to supervise a section of approximately 25 prosecutors and other professionals at the U.S. Attorney's Office.”

Nardello continued, “At all times he has demonstrated his commitment to ethics and integrity, both of which go to the core of Nardello & Co.'s DNA.”

A company spokesperson confirmed that the search for a replacement for the global general counsel is underway. The position was left vacant with Lucy Fato's departure from the company in October. She joined American International Group Inc. as general counsel, but is staying on with Nardello in an advisory capacity.