Firm Management

Steptoe is a diverse institution, with more than 485 attorneys from all regions of the world.  Though our people come from varied backgrounds, we share a common firm culture that emphasizes the pursuit of excellence in the practice of law and preservation of a cooperative, supportive, and collegial atmosphere.  We believe we have created a very special firm, one comprising especially enthusiastic and effective people.

Firm Organization
Our organizational structure fosters a team approach to solving legal problems within and across five broad practice departments:

1. Business Solutions, which includes corporate securities and finance, tax and property.
2. Litigation, which includes appellate; commercial; ERISA, labor, and employment; government contracts; insurance, mass tort, securities, toxic tort, and white-collar crime.
3. Regulatory & Industry Affairs, which includes antitrust & competition, electric power, environment & natural resources, government affairs & public policy, pipeline, and transportation.
4. International, which includes international regulation & compliance, international trade, and worldwide arbitration and dispute resolution.
5. Technology, which includes intellectual property, Internet/e-commerce, and telecommunications. 

Our attorneys frequently divide their time among several of the five departments.  This relatively loose structure is in keeping with our practice philosophy and encourages maximum flexibility by our attorneys. 

Many new associates wish to gain exposure to a variety of legal experiences before beginning to focus on one, and we think it is important to accommodate that desire.  We do not have a formal rotation program, and incoming associates are initially assigned to one of the five departments, based on their interests and the firm’s needs.  There is an option to spend a portion of your time in a second department, and associates may periodically shift from one practice department to another.

We take a long-term strategic approach to the development of our practice, constantly seeking to best position ourselves to deal with the emerging issues of the day.  Today that strategy is evidenced by our involvement in sophisticated telecommunications issues, intellectual property as it applies to the computer industry, and the revolutionary changes in the structure of electric utilities, to name but a few.