West Coast leader Heller Ehrman has strengthened its securities litigation team with the hire of former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global general counsel Lawrence Keeshan.

Keeshan rejoins his former firm as a partner and will head up its firmwide securities litigation and regulatory practice, as well as taking on a role overseeing its international operations.

Keeshan, who was a partner with the firm in the early 1980s, will divide his time between offices in San Francisco and New York.

He retired from PwC in October last year after 11 years with the auditing giant, where he was replaced by Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw litigation partner Javier Rubinstein.

The hire comes one week after San Francisco-based Heller announced it is to open a new office in London this year.

The City outpost will become the 700-lawyer firm's first European base and its fourth office outside the US. The firm currently has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.