Steptoe & Johnson LLP has added to its litigation and white-collar expertise, luring high-profile federal prosecutor Steve Welk to private practice at the firm’s Los Angeles team. This most recent hire caps off a big summer of recruitment for the firm, which saw around a dozen lawyers and executives move to Steptoe.

Welk is a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice, and for the past two decades was the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of asset forfeiture at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. He joined Steptoe’s investigations and white-collar defense group as senior counsel in late August, the firm announced Wednesday.