Marshall Miller, Roberta Kaplan and Sean Hecker/courtesy photos

Two former prosecutors who held senior U.S. Justice Department roles have moved to Kaplan, Hecker & Fink, the latest hires by a boutique founded by veteran Big Law litigators.

Marshall Miller, who was of counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Michael Ferrera, who was most recently co-chief of the terrorism and international narcotics unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, are both joining Kaplan Hecker.

Miller started Monday and Ferrara is expected to start Jan. 27.

Miller, who was the No. 2 official at the DOJ's criminal division in Washington, D.C., until 2015, is arriving as a partner, and Ferrera is joining as counsel. Miller led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York before his stint at Main Justice, and Ferrera previously co-led the complex frauds and cybercrimes unit at SDNY.

Sean Hecker, a name partner at the law firm, said he'd known Miller for several years and had several conversations over the past year and a half about joining.

Miller said he had no bad feelings toward Wachtell. He said he played a key role in growing a cybersecurity and data protection practice there but was attracted by the ability to work with a more diverse group of clients at Kaplan Hecker.

"Here, I have not only the opportunity to represent great companies … but I also get to work with an incredibly dynamic group of people," Miller added.

Kaplan Hecker, and particularly Robbie Kaplan, are known for combining their work for big businesses such as Airbnb with championing gay marriage and the #MeToo movement in the courts. Asked whether the firm's progressive reputation was an important factor in his move, Miller said, "To my mind, it's about lawyers who are engaged in using the law to make the world a better place."

With the addition of two prosecutors, Kaplan Hecker says it now boasts three former public defenders and three ex-prosecutors. Among the firm's white-collar wins is the acquittal of Robert Bogucki, a foreign exchange trader at Barclays who was accused of "front-running" a major transaction and ripping off a client.

But Kaplan Hecker's white-collar defense team is bigger than those six lawyers, said Hecker, and the new hires won't just be focused on white-collar defense and internal investigations. In searching for new hires, Kaplan said the firm looked for skilled litigators of all types who enjoyed practicing law and who share the firm's values.

"I think all the partners feel that we are not looking for particular books of business or particular practice areas, other than to say we're very much a litigation shop," she said.

Miller said compensation didn't even crack the top 10 in terms of the reason for his move. He noted that Wachtell is the most profitable law firm in the Am Law 100 but declined to comment on his pay at the litigation boutique.

In the wake of Ferrera's departure, the current co-chiefs of the SDNY terrorism and international narcotics unit are Emil Bove and Shawn Crowley, according to a spokesman for the office.