The former general counsel of Tyco International Ltd., who guided the company through the corporate accounting fraud scandal it became embroiled in six years ago, is joining Dechert, the firm announced Wednesday.

William Lytton, 59, will join the Philadelphia-based firm as senior counsel; he retired from Tyco last summer. Lytton previously served as deputy special counselor to President Ronald Reagan during the Iran-contra investigation and as general counsel for International Paper.