In the spring of 2012, Nancy Grunberg got a call from a recruiter asking if she would consider talking to attorneys from the Washington office of McKenna Long & Aldridge. Grunberg, then the co-head of Venable's Securities and Exchange Commission and white-collar defense practice, had been with the firm for more than 10 years.

"I didn't know that much about the firm," Grunberg said. "I was open-minded about McKenna. We didn't feel pressure to get out, so we took our time."