Overview
(August 24, 2026, Washington, DC) – Steptoe associate Joseph Ecker has been named the winner of the Rising Star award for Intellectual Property by The National Law Journal in the 2026 DC Legal Awards. The award honors the most promising lawyers age 40 and under who have wielded influence in their practice areas in the DC area and beyond.
Joseph's practice focuses on high-stakes trade secret and patent disputes in a broad range of technical industries, as well as trademark, trade dress, and copyright disputes in the luxury goods, fashion, music, and entertainment industries. Joseph regularly practices in district and appellate courts across the country and before administrative bodies including the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and International Trade Commission.
Read more at The National Law Journal.
About Steptoe
In more than 110 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients and innovative thinking 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, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
