Steptoe LLP (formerly known as Steptoe & Johnson LLP) is an international
law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...
headquartered in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
It maintains offices in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
,
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, and
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
.
History
Philip Steptoe and
Louis A. Johnson, both graduates of the
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...
, and John Rixie formed Steptoe, Rixey, & Johnson in 1913 in
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 16,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, tenth-most populous city ...
. The following year, Rixey left the firm, which became Steptoe & Johnson.
In 1928, Steptoe & Johnson opened an office in
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...
, to meet the expanding legislative and regulatory work available in the state capital. Meanwhile, Johnson, a veteran of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, helped found the
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
, bringing national prominence to himself and the firm when he served as the organization's commander in the mid-1930s. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
appointed Johnson
as United States Assistant Secretary of War in 1937.
After leaving the Roosevelt administration, Johnson opened the Washington D.C., office of Steptoe & Johnson in 1945. In March 1949, President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
appointed Johnson as
United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...
, and he served in that job until September 1950.
The firm's Washington office grew quickly under Johnson's influence. Amongst its first clients were members of the growing airline industry, as well as pipelines, railroads, and foreign companies whose assets had been seized during World War II. In assisting these clients, Steptoe & Johnson became known as a prominent firm in regulatory law, tax, and international trade.
In 1980, the firm separated into two firms, with the DC-based firm being called Steptoe & Johnson Chartered (now Steptoe LLP) and the founding firm remaining a West Virginia partnership called Steptoe & Johnson (now Steptoe & Johnson PLLC).
In 1987, a combination of client needs and business opportunities led to the opening of a Steptoe & Johnson office in Phoenix. Since 1997, the firm has opened offices in Los Angeles (1997), London (2001), Brussels (2002), New York (2005), Chicago (2007), Beijing (2010), and Palo Alto (2014; relocated to San Francisco in 2017).
Steptoe attorneys have frequently served in high-level government positions, and are often quoted on current business, political, and legal happenings in national media. The firm is notable for being one of the first to establish a
blockchain
The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...
practice and to accept payment in
bitcoin
Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...
.
In November 2021, Gwendolyn Prothro Renigar was elected as the firm's new chairperson.
In December 2023, the firm removed reference to Johnson in its registered legal name and rebranded as Steptoe LLP.
Pro bono
Steptoe ranked 19th among Am Law 200 firms in ''
The American Lawyer
''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.[Animal Legal Defense Fund
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an American animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to pr ...]
, the
John Carroll Society, the Children's Law Center, the
Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, and the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, among others.
Reputation
Steptoe is an American
"white shoe" law firm and according to the
Am Law 100 is the 93rd highest-grossing law firm worldwide.
Notable current and former attorneys
*
Stephen Ailes
Stephen Ailes (May 25, 1912 – June 30, 2001) was a prominent member of the District of Columbia Bar and a partner in the firm of Steptoe & Johnson. He served as the United States Under Secretary of the Army from February 9, 1961, to January 2 ...
, former
United States under secretary of the Army
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
and former
United States secretary of the Army
The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, insta ...
.
*
Shara L. Aranoff, former chairman of the
United States International Trade Commission
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It was created by Congress in 1916 as the U.S. Tari ...
.
*
Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th United States secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as the List of governors of Arizo ...
, former
United States secretary of the interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
and
Governor of Arizona
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
.
*
Stewart Baker, former general counsel of the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
and first assistant secretary for policy at
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...
.
*
John D. Bates
John Deacon Bates (born October 11, 1946) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was appointed in 2001 by President George W. Bush, and he as ...
,
U.S. district court judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
for the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and ...
.
*David S. Biderman, executive director and CEO, Solid Waste Association of North America.
*
Steve Bullock, former
governor of Montana
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
.
*
Paul K. Charlton, former prosecutor.
*
Shannen W. Coffin, general counsel to
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
.
*
Alan D. Cohn, former assistant secretary for strategy, planning, analysis and risk of the
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...
*
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.
Fortuño served as the first Secre ...
, former
governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
.
*
Jerome Holmes
Jerome A. Holmes (born November 18, 1961) is an American lawyer serving as the United States federal judge, Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He is the List of African-American firsts, f ...
, federal judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Dist ...
.
*
Louis A. Johnson, former
United States secretary of defense
The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...
and former
assistant secretary of war.
*
J. Bennett Johnston, former United States senator for Louisiana.
*
Robert E. Jordan III, former
general counsel of the Army.
*
Debra L. Lee, chairman and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable television channel, channel targeting African Americans, Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entert ...
.
*
Monroe Leigh
Monroe Leigh (1919–2001) was a prominent American political philosopher and diplomat. He was born in Halifax, Virginia, in 1919. He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1940 and earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, serving ...
, former legal advisor of the Department of State under
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
.
*
Wilma A. Lewis, chief judge of the
District Court of the Virgin Islands
The District Court of the Virgin Islands (in case citations, D.V.I.) is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over federal and diversity actions in the United States Virgin Islands, a United States territory and more specifically ...
and first female
United States attorney for the District of Columbia
The United States attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is responsible for representing the Federal government of the United States, federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's ...
*
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages. He has had eight productions in London's West End and six productions on Broadway, and his 34 ...
, theatre director and playwright.
*Pantelis Michalopoulos, partner and owner of Steptoe LLP.
*
Shirley D. Peterson, former assistant attorney general in the Tax Division of the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
and former commissioner of the
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
.
*Intisar Rabb, professor at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
.
*
John Rizzo
John Anthony Rizzo (October 6, 1947 – August 6, 2021) was an American attorney who worked as a lawyer in the Central Intelligence Agency for 34 years. He was the deputy counsel or acting general counsel of the CIA for the first nine years of ...
, former
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
general counsel.
*
John Shadegg
John Barden Shadegg (; born October 22, 1949) is an American politician and former U.S. representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The district, numbered as the 4th district before the 2000 censu ...
, former
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
for
Arizona's 3rd congressional district
Arizona's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district that includes most of southern, western, and downtown Phoenix, along with a southern portion of Glendale. It is currently represented by Democrat Yassamin Ansari.
From 2003 to ...
.
*
Laurence Silberman
Laurence Hirsch Silberman (October 12, 1935 – October 2, 2022) was an American jurist and diplomat who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1985 until his death ...
,
United States federal judge
In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...
for
.
*
Karl Tilleman, former member of the Canadian National Basketball Team who played in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; current Olympic record-holder for the most three-point baskets in a single game.
*
Richard Verma
Richard Rahul Verma (born November 27, 1968) is an Americans, American diplomat, who served as the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, a position he held from April 5, 202 ...
,
United States Ambassador to India
The United States ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. ambassador's office is situated at the Embassy of the United States, New Delhi, U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
On March 15, 2023, Eri ...
and former
assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs
The assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs is the head of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs within the United States Department of State.
List of assistant secretaries of state for legislative affairs
References
External links ...
.
*
Kimba Wood
Kimba Maureen Wood (born January 21, 1944) is an American judge who is a senior district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Wood received her undergraduate education at Connecticut College before ...
, federal judge for the
.
See also
*
References
External links
Steptoe.comhagestadlaw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steptoe and Johnson
1913 establishments in West Virginia
Law firms based in Washington, D.C.
Law firms established in 1913