Christopher Harwood.

In its second hire from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office in recent months, Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello has added Christopher Harwood, the co-chief of the Southern District's civil frauds unit.

The white-collar boutique, known for defending clients in high-profile enforcement matters brought by state and federal prosecutors, has now hired leading prosecutors this year from both the civil and criminal divisions of the Southern District of New York. Last month, the firm said it had hired Telemachus Kasulis, a former co-chief of the Southern District's Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.

The 40-attorney boutique extended offers to Harwood and Kasulis simultaneously, Harwood said. Both Hardwood and Kasulis will start in January 2019 as partners. Morvillo already has 10 alums from various U.S. attorney's offices.

In an interview, Harwood, 40, said the firm contacted him directly about coming on board, and he did not undergo extensive interviewing with other firms. “I was not out looking to make a switch,” Harwood said. “Once the firm approached me,” and when he became familiar with the boutique's lawyers and its breadth of practice and matters, “it was very appealing,” he said.

He said he had always been interested in a defense boutique that takes on difficult enforcement matters for both corporations and individuals. “I knew that I was looking for a boutique,” he said. “Morvillo was the perfect fit.”

“Being at the U.S. Attorney's Office, I've been practicing for more than a decade in that type of close-knit relatively small environment and I was looking to replicate that on the private practice side,” Harwood said.

Harwood has served 11 years as a federal prosecutor, including the past eight in Manhattan and three years in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. He was previously an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

At the Southern District office, Harwood litigated civil enforcement matters related to financial fraud, health care fraud, federal programs and grant fraud, consumer fraud and money laundering.

In a suit against a Deutsche Bank subsidiary, Harwood handled one of the first mortgage-fraud cases arising out of the financial crisis to be brought under the False Claims Act, which settled for more than $200 million. He handled subsequent mortgage-fraud cases against three banks—JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo and Flagstar Bank—that resulted in a combined recovery of more than $1.8 billion.

At Morvillo, Harwood will defend clients in civil litigation as well as in criminal and regulatory cases. Harwood, noting “significant demand,” said he hasn't observed a noticeable shift in the number of civil enforcement actions that are being investigated or brought.

Harwood, who exits the Southern District office at the end of December, has served in a supervisory role of the civil frauds unit the last four years, including about two years as co-chief alongside with Pierre Armand, who continues in that role. A replacement for Harwood hasn't been announced, he said. Harwood also held the position of civil health care fraud coordinator.