Overview
(May 1, 2018, Washington, DC) — Steptoe Chicago partner Chris Niewoehner has been named to The National Law Journal’s list of Trailblazers in White-Collar. The list is featured in a supplement in the May issue of the legal publication.
Niewoehner defends individuals and corporations in all phases of government investigations and prosecutions and handles matters related to complex civil litigation. A skilled trial lawyer, Niewoehner spent 12 years as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where he investigated and litigated all aspects of high-profile corruption cases that garnered international headlines.
Most notably as a prosecutor, Niewoehner served as trial attorney in United States v. Rod Blagojevich, a case that resulted in the conviction of the former governor on corruption charges relating to his attempt to sell the US Senate seat previously held by Barack Obama. Niewoehner conducted all aspects of the pre-indictment investigation and subsequent two months-long trials at which he gave the opening or closing argument to the jury, and examined critical witnesses on direct and cross-examination. For his work, Niewoehner and the trial team were honored by the FBI with the Director’s Annual Award for Excellence.
At Steptoe, Niewoehner, who co-chairs the firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense Group, concentrates on matters that require an aggressive response to investigation or the use of his prosecutorial skills to detect or deter corrupt behavior. He handles a variety of high-profile matters for clients such as Volkswagen AG, with a leading role on world-wide issues involving the criminal investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) arising from the diesel emissions controversy. The resulting 2017 settlement was one of the largest DOJ settlements of all time. VW agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $2.8 billion, but at the plea hearing, the government indicated it could have sought a penalty of up to $34 billion.
Niewoehner is now gearing up for trial in his representation of USPlabs in an 11-count DOJ indictment alleging conspiracy to import ingredients from China using false analysis and false labeling while lying about the source and nature of those ingredients after putting them in USP’s products.
A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Niewoehner has been recognized by Chambers, The Legal 500, Illinois Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers.
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, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
