Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has hired Steve Kwok, the U.S. embassy’s former resident legal adviser in Beijing, as a partner in its Hong Kong office.

At Skadden, Kwok will focus on internal investigations, U.S. regulatory enforcement matters, and trial and appellate litigation in U.S. federal and state courts.

Kwok served as the U.S. Department of Justice’s attaché in China from 2013. He represented the U.S. in discussions with Chinese law enforcement authorities on criminal, corruption, money laundering matters.

As a federal prosecutor, Kwok argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and served as a member of FBI’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and the Organized Crime Unit.

Kwok’s arrival marks Skadden’s first lateral hire in Asia after corporate partner Christopher Betts joined its Hong Kong office in 2012.