Former Office of Legal Counsel head and “torture” memo author Steven Bradbury became the latest Bush DOJ official to become a partner at the D.C. office of Dechert. Read the law firm’s news release from last week here.

Steven Bradbury (DOJ)

The ex-OLC chief will join former Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel and former DOJ Antitrust Division Chief of Staff Hill Wellford at the firm. Read our previous post on Engel and Wellford here.

Bradbury — who is under investigation by Office of Professional Responsibility for his role in authorizing brutal interrogation tactics — will focus on securities and antitrust litigation at Dechert.

“Steve is an extraordinarily talented litigator who in his 20-year career has been involved in some of the most significant litigation in his field,” said Dechert chairman Barton J. Winokur, in a statement. “He is a valuable addition to our antitrust and trial practices and we are pleased that he has chosen to join us.”

Former Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel began his new job today as a partner at the D.C. office of Dechert, The Blog of the Legal Times reported this afternoon.

Engel, who was added to the firm’s white-collar and securities litigation division, told the BLT that Dechert “offered a fantastic opportunity.”

“It was a really good fit,” he told the BLT. “They have a number of very strong practice areas.”

Engel began as an OLC counsel in May 2006 and became deputy assistant attorney general in January 2007. He was an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis before coming to the Justice Department.

Although Engel was not around at OLC when the infamous “torture memos” were authored, he did weigh in on the Guantanamo Bay detainees at a December 2007 Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, The BLT said. He said the prisoners should not receive the right of habeas corpus, according to The BLT.

The BLT also reported that former DOJ Antitrust Division Chief of Staff Hill Wellford will join law firm Bingham McCutchen at its D.C. office.