After five years as the U.S. Army’s general counsel, William T. Coleman III has returned to the Philadelphia law firm scene by taking a position as a partner in the litigation department of Dechert Price & Rhoads.

Coleman will focus on employment litigation, his forte during his nearly 20 years with Pepper Hamilton, as well as the development of Dechert’s government affairs practice. Though stationed in his native Philadelphia, Coleman will spend a good deal of time in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.