Top telecommunications litigator Andrew McBride’s departure from Wiley Rein for Perkins Coie this week wasn’t the standard lateral move within Big Law. Instead, it came after a period of solitary soul-searching following a medical emergency this spring.

In February, McBride’s right leg, where he has implanted metal supports from a previous sports injury, developed an infection. Doctors were forced to amputate his right foot and he now wears a prosthetic. McBride, 56, a litigator for Verizon Wireless Inc. and a former member of Wiley Rein’s management committee, was on leave from the firm until April.