After spending nearly two decades at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Jonathan Ocker, a longtime executive compensation and benefits lawyer, has returned to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman as a partner in San Francisco.

Ocker, who rejoined Pillsbury earlier this week, said the firm has always had a strong compensation and benefits practice, even before he left for Orrick in 1999. An emphasis on advising public companies drew Ocker back after his long hiatus.

“Pillsbury has a focus on public companies, which is my focus, so I thought it would be better for the next stage of my career to return to the group, being at a firm that has a better focus on public companies,” said Ocker, who specializes in advising public companies, boards and executives on high-profile compensation and corporate governance issues.

Ocker noted that he's excited about the reunion with his friends at Pillsbury, adding that “there is no place like home.”

Pillsbury, which held unsuccessful merger talks with Orrick a few years ago, was formed in 2005 through the merger of legacy firms based in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Ocker spent 14 years at Pillsbury before moving to Orrick, where he headed the firm's executive compensation and benefits group. Before returning to Pillsbury this week, Ocker also founded Orrick's global corporate solutions group.

“Over the years, Jon has maintained close ties at Pillsbury, and we are thrilled to welcome him back,” said a statement from Cindy Schlaefer, leader of the firm's executive compensation and benefits practice. “Clients call him the 'Say on Pay Doctor' for good reason. His clients trust his advice implicitly.”

The executive compensation and benefits guru started his legal career in 1978 at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago. He then joined San Francisco-based McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen in 1983. (The firm eventually became Bingham McCutchen, which dissolved in late 2014 with the bulk of its lawyers joining Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.)

Ocker was then hired by Pillsbury in 1985 to help the firm build out its executive compensation and benefits practice. Now, as he returns to the firm once again, Ocker hopes to continue helping Pillsbury expand its practice in the field.

“To continue to focus on my clients and help leading California and U.S. public companies with the design, implementation and disclosure for executive pay,” said Ocker about his goals, as well as the “ability to create the high-impact package and sovereign packages that meet shareholder approval.”

Ocker said that Pillsbury has about 15 lawyers in its executive compensation practice. Over the years, Ocker noted that there has been a greater focus on what executives make, especially in terms of the ratio of CEO salaries compared with that of an average employee.

“[There is] greater scrutiny and a desire for a greater transparency,” Ocker said.

As for Orrick, which has been busy on the lateral hiring front in 2018 after a financially successful 2017, the firm thanked Ocker for his contributions and wished him well. Orrick said that partner Juliano Banuelos in San Francisco will now lead its compensation and benefits team.