Seetha Ramachandran. Courtesy photo.

Proskauer Rose is building out its litigation bench in New York with the addition of former federal prosecutor Seetha Ramachandran.

Ramachandran joins Proskauer from Schulte Roth & Zabel, which she joined in 2014 after nearly a decade in public service.

After a clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Ramachandran joined Covington & Burling as a litigation associate in 2000 before heading to New York firm Richards Kibbe & Orbe about three years later.

In 2005, she joined the Southern District of New York as an assistant U.S. attorney in its complex frauds, major crimes and asset forfeiture units. She then served at Main Justice as deputy chief in the criminal division's asset forfeiture and money laundering section. As the first head of the DOJ's money laundering and bank integrity unit, she developed model enforcement guidelines for criminal cases under the Bank Secrecy Act for regulators and prosecutors.

In her move to Proskauer, Ramachandran, who specializes in white-collar and regulatory litigation, said the firm's strength in these areas allows her to leverage her experience.

“[Proskauer] has a really outstanding trial practice, and there are not that many firms that routinely handle trials,” Ramachandran said.

“[My goal] is really to focus on what I've been doing and expanding it even further,” said Ramachandran, who works with banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds and executives on high-profile issues, especially anti-money laundering matters.

“We are delighted to welcome Seetha to Proskauer. Her widely-recognized expertise in white collar defense will be a tremendous asset to our team and our clients,” Robert Cleary, co-chairman of Proskauer's white-collar defense and investigations group, said in a statement.

Ramachandran is one of nearly a dozen lateral hires in recent months for Proskauer, whose top line grew 9.8 percent to $977.9 million last year.

Corporate restructuring partner David Hillman joined the firm earlier this week as a partner in New York, also from Schulte Roth. The firm also added Hadassa Waxman, a former co-chief of the general crimes unit for the S.D.N.Y. late last month.

In Boston, the firm added K&L Gates management committee member and corporate partner Charles Dale to its business solutions, governance, restructuring and bankruptcy practice last month. Out West, it added Drinker Biddle & Reath partner Kate Gold to its labor and employment practice in Los Angeles.