Kristin Wells has just signed on as a partner with Patton Boggs. Wells was most recently deputy chief counsel at the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to a release, Wells will work with public policy and international law teams at the firm to "help corporate clients in their dealings with foreign governments and legal systems, as well as international markets."

Wells, who worked under current committee chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif. and the late Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., dealt with issues such as international refugee policy and immigration matters, international women's issues, and consular affairs. While working on Capitol Hill, she has had a hand in congressional resolutions declaring genocide in Darfur, the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, and the Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.

She has also worked as counsel at the House Judiciary Committee under then-ranking member (now chairman) John Conyers, D-Mich. In addition to the departure of Wells, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chief Counsel David Abramowitz recently took a position as director of policy and government relations in Humanity United's Washington office.