Clifford Chance (CC) has added three partners to its New York litigation practice with the hire of a trio of former US federal prosecutors.

David Raskin, Christopher Morvillo and Edward O'Callaghan all formerly worked together in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The trio will join CC's New York-based white collar, regulatory enforcement and government investigations practice, taking the total number of partner in the magic circle firm's New York office to 52.

Raskin, who is joining CC directly from the US Attorney's Office, has handled several criminal trials including those resulting from violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Morvillo and O'Callaghan left the US Attorney's Office six and three years ago respectively, and have since taken up private practice roles. Morvillo joins from white collar boutique firm Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason Anello & Bohrer, while O'Callaghan is the head of Nixon Peabody's government investigations and white collar defence group.

CC US litigation chief David DiBari said: "It's a rare occurrence when three litigators the calibre of David, Chris and Ed agree to move from different organisations to form, and join, a terrific team. Their decision to reunite at CC adds considerable depth and strength to our US litigation practice – especially in New York – while bolstering our firm's strong litigation offerings worldwide."

The hires come after CC saw the departure of Americas head of litigation and dispute resolution Juan Morillo in May this year. Morillo left the firm to join Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington DC.

His departure left CC with 12 litigation partners in the US, of which eight were based in Washington DC.

The magic circle firm overhauled its US litigation strategy in 2009 after a stream of exits from its New York practice. Global litigation and dispute resolution chief Mark Kirsch left to join Gibson Dunn & Crutcher that year, with securities litigation head Mark Holland and fellow partners Joel Cohen and George Schieren also exiting the firm.

The practice overhaul – which saw the firm shift its focus towards regulatory, investigations, antitrust, commercial disputes and international arbitration and away from securities litigation – saw a number of associate job cuts, with 29 roles placed under review.

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