Goldman Sachs has put together a high-profile legal team to defend itself against the fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports The Am Law Daily.

The global financial services firm has recruited a number of big-name lawyers to work alongside its current legal team, which consists of litigation specialists Richard Klapper and Gregory Craig of Sullivan & Cromwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom respectively.

In addition, O'Melveny & Myers litigation partner Lee Blalack and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher public policy co-chair Michael Bopp are advising seven current and former Goldman executives that will testify before a congressional hearing on Tuesday (27 April) probing the bank's conduct.

O'Melveny has a longstanding relationship with Goldman, having advised the financial services firm on various legislative, regulatory, litigation, and corporate matters. The former executive director of Goldman's Asian legal unit, James Wood, is currently a counsel with O'Melveny in Hong Kong.

Blalack – an ex-Marine who fought in the first Gulf War in 1991 – is a former chief counsel to the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations. Current Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, CFO David Viniar, and others are scheduled to go before the committee on Tuesday. They will join a list of several other high-profile clients represented by Blalack in recent years.

Blalack also represented former Hewlett-Packard general counsel Ann Baskins in the company's pre-texting scandal, former Senate majority leader William Frist on questions surrounding his sale of stock in a blind trust, former Senator Pete Domenici in a probe into the firing of several US attorneys, and disgraced ex-congressman Randy Cunningham in a corruption probe.

Gibson Dunn's Bopp, who also chairs the firm's financial services crisis team, has handled several special investigations by both the House and Senate. Bopp helped write legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security while serving as staff director and chief counsel to the Senate's committee of homeland security and governmental affairs between 2003 and 2006.

Goldman has turned to Gibson Dunn in the past to handle corporate and litigation work for the company. Susan Grafton, a former vice president and associate general counsel in Goldman's legal department, joined Gibson Dunn in 2007.

Meanwhile, San Diego lawyer Mark Fabiani (pictured above) – known as 'The Master of Disaster' – has also joined the Goldman team. Fabiani earned his nickname after advising the Clinton administration on congressional investigations as special counsel to the White House during the 1990s. He later served as Al Gore's deputy campaign manager for communications during the 2000 presidential campaign.

In 2001 Fabiani left the political arena and founded Fabiani & Lehane, a boutique PR firm advising corporate clients on matters stemming from legal and government inquiries.

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