Peter Axelrod, a longtime assistant U.S. attorney in California who recently capped five years as the Department of Justice attache in Paris, has joined Paul Hastings in New York as of counsel.

Axelrod said he loved his work at the Justice Department and could have taken a government role stateside, but saw moving to Paul Hastings as a "natural progression" and a way to "build on what I've learned with the department."

Peter Axelrod. Courtesy photo.

He became familiar with French law enforcement in his attache role, but said his experience was more broadly applicable.

"I'm thinking globally, and I think that's part of why the Paul Hastings platform is so attractive," he said, referring to its offices on four continents and international practice.

While he started Monday at Paul Hastings as of counsel, Axelrod said he was eager to build his practice and said he was attracted to the firm's "entrepreneurial spirit."

Axelrod wouldn't discuss specific cases, but his work was generally government-facing, focused on the bilateral criminal matters between the U.S. and France and Monaco, like requests made under mutual legal assistance treaties and extradition treaties. His LinkedIn profile says that his work touched on national security matters, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, cybercrime, fraud and sanctions violations.

He said the role was distinct from that of the U.S. legal attache, which is an FBI position.

Before going to work as an attache, Axelrod spent about 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in San Francisco, where he worked on a wide variety of cases, including the successful prosecution of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. He had worked at the defunct firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen before that, according to his LinkedIn profile.