Overview
(August 5, 2020, Washington, DC) — Law360 has named Steptoe of counsel Shawn Davisson a Rising Star in White Collar. The Rising Stars list recognizes individuals under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age. The 2020 Law360 Rising Stars list was selected by a team of editors who carefully reviewed more than 1,300 submissions.
In a profile published August 4, the editors cite Davisson's work for Volkswagen AG in connection with various government investigations into its diesel emissions controversy and his role in the federal trial of the highest-ranking BP executive charged in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as among the high-profile representations that earned him a spot on this year's list.
Davisson focuses his practice primarily on white-collar criminal defense matters, government and internal investigations, regulatory enforcement actions, securities litigation and enforcement, and foreign corrupt practices (FCPA). He defends corporations, corporate executives, public officials, and other individuals and entities in matters involving or brought by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and other government agencies and regulators. Davisson also has extensive experience conducting internal investigations on behalf of corporate clients to examine allegations of criminal conduct, and assisting with parallel civil proceedings arising out of criminal investigations, including enforcement proceedings, multidistrict securities fraud litigation, congressional investigations, and related matters.
In describing why he's a white collar lawyer, Davisson tells Law360 that he had the luck to fall into white collar practice when he landed at Steptoe. "I was given a chance, sort of serendipitously, to work a case that involved international and white collar attorneys at the firm, and it gave me that early opportunity to work with such an amazing and highly regarded team" in the white collar practice, he said.
"I obviously jumped at that chance to work with them, and I remain in the practice today, because the cases and issues we deal with are, at least to me, often at the heart of what it means to be a lawyer, at least in the traditional sense. When you grow up wanting to be a lawyer, that's what you imagine it being like," Davisson added.
The full profile on Davisson can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
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.