Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom partner Robert Bennett is leaving the firm to join Hogan & Hartson, reports The Am Law Daily.

Bennett, who was co-leader of both the international government enforcement litigation group and the criminal and civil litigation practice in Skadden's Washington DC office, will join Hogan along with fellow defence litigator Carl Rauh. The pair had been at Skadden since 1990.

High-profile clients of Bennett's include former president Bill Clinton, Senator John McCain, New York Times reporter Judith Miller and former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.

He will now co-lead Hogan's white-collar and investigations practice alongside Hogan partner Ty Cobb.

Skadden's Washington DC head Clifford Naeve declined to comment on the reasons behind the departures, saying that the firm was not surprised because Skadden had known for weeks that Bennett and Rauh were speaking to other firms.

"We had been talking to Bob and Carl about their staying with the firm and had hoped that they would stay with us, but I think they concluded they wanted to go off in a different direction, and that is their decision," said Naeve. "They have done a tremendous job during the 20 years they have been here. They have put in place an impressive litigation team."

Last month Skadden lost a high-profile patent litigation team to Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, including practice head Jeff Randall. He was followed by fellow patent litigation partners Allan Soobert and Jeff Pade, who will be based in Washington DC.

The Am Law Daily is the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week's US sister title.

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