Benjamin Chew.

Veteran litigator Benjamin Chew has left Manatt, Phelps & Phillips to join Brown Rudnick as a partner in its litigation practice.

Chew, whose clients include international celebrities such as singer and actress Cher and actor Johnny Depp, officially joined Brown Rudnick on April 20. He will split his time between the firm's offices in Irvine, and Washington, D.C.

“I have admired Brown Rudnick throughout my career,” said Chew in a prepared statement released this week. “It has a strong reputation for aggressive, plaintiff-side litigation, domestically and internationally. I look forward to growing my entertainment practice with Randy Smith and the great litigators in the Irvine office, and working closely with Ken Weckstein and the government contracts team in D.C.”

Chew, who was not immediately available to discuss his decision to join Brown Rudnick, has not always had his previous lateral moves go smoothly. In early 2014, the commercial litigator and former antitrust leader at Patton Boggs left that firm ahead of its eventual combination with Squire Sanders to join Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. It was a brief marriage.

By mid-2014, Chew had resigned from Pillsbury Winthrop's partnership as a result of a conflict created by the firm's longtime client relationship with Chevron Corp. and his previous work at Patton Boggs, where he had spent more than 20 years. At the time, Patton Boggs agreed to pay $15 million to settle a high-profile dispute with the energy giant.

Eventually, Chew settled in at Manatt Phelps, free of conflicts. In his statement this week, Chew said he was pleased to find a new home at Brown Rudnick, noting that during his first day at the firm he was able to provide his clients with “seamless, high-level service even as I was transitioning” with the help from his new colleagues in Irvine and the nation's capital.

“That's rare and special” he added. “I am excited to expand our work at Brown Rudnick.”

In his own statement, Brown Rudnick CEO Joseph Ryan said that Chew's 25 years of courtroom experience and his extensive expertise in Latin America—Chew is fluent in Spanish—and the Middle East fit the firm's strategy to grow its practices in those regions.

“Our strategy is to seek opportunities that lend themselves to innovation and collaboration across our platform, and to add strong people to practice areas where we are a recognized leader,” Ryan said. “Ben fits the bill. He is a prominent D.C. litigator with a growing roster of high-profile matters in Southern California, and adds depth and breadth to our litigation team in these key markets”

Chew is representing Depp in a multimillion-dollar legal malpractice suit filed by the Hollywood star late last year accusing his former lawyers of negligence, self-dealing and improperly raking in some $30 million in contingent legal fees. He has also advised Cher in litigation with a former financial adviser related to an alleged stock fraud, while he also assisted L3 Technologies Inc. and other government contractors in various civil actions.

At Brown Rudnick, Chew will continue to cover a range of cases for clients in the entertainment industry and government contracts sector. He comes to the firm almost three months after Brown Rudnick brought on former Manatt Phelps partner and health care litigation co-chair Andrew Struve in Irvine.

Brown Rudnick, which late last year recruited longtime Mayer Brown partner Edward Davis in New York, has also recently moved to bolster its London office by bringing on ex-Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft partner Louisa Watt and former Ashurst partner Mark Lubbock.