Vinson & Elkins has hired Ephraim “Fry” Wernick, a former assistant chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit, expanding the firm’s white-collar defense practice.

Wernick joined Vinson on Monday as a partner in Washington, D.C., in the firm’s government investigations and white-collar criminal defense practice. A federal prosecutor since 2008, Wernick was lead prosecutor in more than 30 criminal trials, including what is believed to be the largest campaign finance case in U.S. history.