Overview
(September 7, 2021, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that Chris Hinze has joined the firm as chief marketing and business development officer. Based in the Washington office, Hinze will oversee the global marketing and business development at the firm. His appointment follows the recent elevation of Shauna Bryce to chief diversity officer and chief legal talent officer and the recruitment of Melissa Boone as chief human resources officer, and the 2020 arrival of John Kelly as chief operating officer.
Hinze brings more than 25 years' experience in professional services including in senior-level global roles in the legal and accounting sector. For the past 16 years, he was global head of communications and a senior member of the marketing and business development team at top ten law firm Hogan Lovells. There, Hinze worked with the leadership of the firm on major marketing issues including strategic market and brand positioning and development, profile raising and challenging reputation management, executive communications and employee engagement, and the delivery of other complex and challenging marketing projects.
His previous experience includes CMO-equivalent roles with Ernst & Young's global tax practice and network of law firms and at the former Andersen Legal where he handled the full range of business development and marketing activities on a global basis.
In welcoming Hinze to the firm, Steptoe Chair Phil West commented: "Chris brings in-depth, first-hand experience working in the legal markets in the US and abroad, and an international outlook on the issues and trends facing our profession and our clients. He will be a terrific leader for our marketing and business development department as well as our firm."
Hinze remarked: "Having worked for a long time in the legal industry in both London and Washington, I was already familiar with Steptoe and its considerable reputation in areas including regulated industries and government investigations. The firm has a world-class client base and a clear focus on providing sophisticated advice and solutions to solve some of their most complex and high-stakes needs. I look forward to working closely with the firm’s executive team and partners in continuing to reinforce its position as a true market leading firm, supported by a strong marketing and business development team."
Hinze is the former chair of the UK's Professional Services Marketing Group, the representative body for marketing practitioners from accounting, legal, consulting, actuaries, and property and other professional advisers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Oxford.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
