While the white-collar revolving door has closed, high-profile lawyers and ex-prosecutors still can make moves. (Shutterstock.com)

The early September rash of white-collar hirings around the country is evidence that firms continue to see a need for experienced lawyers to handle government investigations and defense for corporate clients, even if the practice area has slowed somewhat overall.

Baker & Hostetler, which beefed up its white-collar strength in Texas this month by hiring a prominent partner in Dallas, is far from the only national firm snatching up partners who specialize in white-collar defense and investigations.

But legal recruiters are split on the strength of the market for white-collar lawyers. Larry Watanabe, founder of Watanabe Nason in Solana Beach, California, said the demand is up across the board, especially in California. But other recruiters caution that the market for white-collar lawyers has not been extraordinarily strong lately, despite the numerous big-firm announcements since Labor Day.

"I don't think the market for folks coming out of government—unless they have very established reputations—is great right now, but the market is always great for people who have established reputations for generating business," said Mark Jungers, a partner and co-founder of search firm Lippman Jungers.

That jibes with a July report in the New York Law Journal, which suggested that a slowdown in criminal prosecutions has softened the white-collar lateral hiring market in New York, slowing the revolving door between prosecutors' offices and law firms.

Jungers, who splits his time between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles, but also oversees his firm's operations in New York, said the New York lateral hiring market for white-collar lawyers may be down, but that will change.

"If you are a crackerjack person at the Southern District of New York, there's always going to be work for you at some big, fancy law firm if you want to do that," he said.

Other recruiters spoke similarly.

Randy Block, owner of Performance Legal Placement in Dallas, said firms are typically interested in talking to lawyers with white-collar chops, but he has not noticed any spike in demand that might explain the extent of hiring nationally this month.

Lee Albritton, a principal in Amicus Search Group in Austin, said there is a demand for white-collar attorneys who have "meaningful relationships" with attorneys in government, largely in the health care space.

Watanabe said demand is strong in California because of its many technology companies, some of which have faced high-profile investigations in recent years. This month, for instance, attorneys general in several states, including Texas and New York, launched antitrust investigations into Google and Facebook.

Additionally, Watanabe said, some law firms are preparing for work that would result from an economic downturn, including hiring antitrust and white-collar criminal defense attorneys.

"In a down economy, you are going to get all kinds of lawsuits [and] investigations," he said.

Still a Necessary Practice

Baker & Hostetler's hiring of Shawn Cleveland as a partner in Dallas on the white-collar, investigations and securities enforcement and litigation team, is significant beyond his practice because he represents the firm's expansion into the Dallas market. Cleveland came from Winston & Strawn's Dallas office.

But Cleveland said he sees a "lot of need" for lawyers with his expertise at big firms, because clients often find themselves under investigation by a federal or state agency.

"White-collar overall is an extremely valuable—unfortunately extremely necessary—service for so many of our business clients," he said.

John Berry, who is set to join Munger, Tolles & Olson as a partner in Los Angeles on Monday, came from the U.S. Securities and Exchanage Commission, where he was associate regional director in Los Angeles. Berry, who was at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York for nearly a decade before joining the SEC in Los Angeles in 2011, said there is always a demand for senior-level government lawyers, but he does not see a big hiring trend in the area.

After deciding it was time to leave government after eight years and return to private practice, Berry said he chose Munger because it has a national practice and a reputation for handling bet-the-company cases and matters.

In addition to Cleveland, Baker & Hostetler also brought on Jeffrey Martino, a former Department of Justice lawyer, in New York this month.

Dechert hired two white-collar partners in September: former Philadelphia city solicitor Sozi Tulante in Philadelphia, and Andrew Boutros, a former federal prosecutor who came from Seyfarth Shaw and will serve as regional chairman of the firm's U.S. white-collar practice. He will be based in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Other firms that added high-profile lateral partners in the white-collar area this month include McGuireWoods, which hired Rodger Heaton, a former U.S. attorney and chief of staff to former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, in Chicago, and Kevin Lally, who joined in Los Angeles and came from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where he most recently was senior litigation counsel in the major frauds section.

Munger brought on Berry in Los Angeles. And Covington & Burling, in New York, hired Amanda Kramer, a longtime assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan.

Block, the Dallas recruiter, said white-collar defense work is always near the top of law firm wish lists.

"If I was ranking the practices firms always want, corporate and M&A always lead the list, but white-collar seems to be right up there," he said.

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