Howard Fischer, who left his job Monday as senior trial counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission, considered hanging up his spurs in 2014, when investment adviser Wing Chau broke down in tears while Fischer was questioning him on the stand. There’s no way I’m topping this, he thought.

But Fischer stuck around until he heard about an opening at Moses & Singer, a New York firm with about 95 lawyers. He said that while many of his SEC colleagues took jobs in Big Law, he heard nothing but good things about the talent and reputation of attorneys at Moses & Singer, where he starts next week in its white-collar defense and securities litigation groups.