Law firm Steptoe & Johnson has appointed former joint head of bribery and corruption of the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Patrick Rappo as partner. Rappo will practice in the firm's international regulation and compliance and litigation groups, and will continue the expansion of the firm's FCPA/anti-corruption and white-collar criminal defense practices.

Rappo spent five years at the SFO as a case manager and joint head of bribery and corruption. In this capacity, Rappo has been involved in a number of high-profile SFO cases including allegations of bribery and corruption, and other forms of serious and complex economic crime.

His responsibilities for multi-jurisdictional cases have given him the opportunity to work with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other counterpart authorities outside of the United Kingdom. He has also been a key participant in the efforts to introduce deferred prosecution agreements in the U.K., overseeing the SFO's Deferred Prosecution Working Group.