Goldman Sachs is set to add Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison partner Ted Wells to its big-name defence team as the bank continues to invest heavily in its fight against fraud charges.

Wells – the co-chair of Paul Weiss’s litigation department – has taken roles on a number of headline-making cases, including defending Bush White House aide Scooter Libby in his trial over his role in leak of the identity of a CIA officer, while he also advised Eliot Spitzer in the wake of the former New York governor’s 2008 prostitution scandal.

Goldman has already put together a team of lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, O’Melveny & Myers and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher to advise on matters ranging from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil charges to contentious congressional hearings.

Goldman’s total legal bills could be set to exceed $100m (£66m), as the bank faces the possibility of long-running litigation which could drag on for years without a settlement.

Goldman’s legal and consulting lineup so far includes:

– Skadden litigation partner Gregory Craig;
– Sullivan litigation partner Richard Klapper;
– O’Melveny business trial and litigation partner Lee Blalack;
– Gibson Dunn co-chair of public policy Michael Bopp;
– Former White House special counsel Mark Fabiani;
– Goldman general counsel Gregory Palm; and
– Ex-New York Times reporter Stephen Labaton, the son of Labaton Sucharow senior partner Edward Labaton.