Christopher Niewoehner, a deputy chief in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecution section of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, has joined Steptoe & Johnson’s white collar criminal defense unit.
As an Assistant U.S. attorney for the past 12 years, Niewoehner investigated and litigated all aspects of high-profile corruption cases that have garnered international headlines.
These include United States v. Rod Blagojevich, which resulted in the July 2011 conviction of the former governor of Illinois.
Niewoehner served as the lead prosecutor in the two-month trial and conviction of Tony Rezko, a top advisor to Mr. Blagojevich charged with nine separate fraud schemes.
He also led the prosecution of Edward “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak, an influential Chicago businessman and politician convicted of defrauding a medical school in a multi-million dollar real estate deal.
Most recently, Niewoehner served as lead attorney in the trial of William Cellini, a long-standing political insider in Illinois state government convicted in November 2011 of extorting campaign contributions.
Niewoehner has tried 17 federal jury trials and two federal bench trials, ten of them as lead attorney.
He has argued six appeals in the 7th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals and briefed three additional appeals, including one in the 2nd Circuit.
Niewoehner has investigated and litigated complex criminal cases from inception through appeal, including cases involving health care fraud, financial fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, racketeering, narcotics, and violent crimes.
“The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is one of the most prestigious in the country, and Chris’s many contributions as a lead prosecutor in some of the most-followed corruption cases are certainly a factor in that office’s success,” said Brian Heberlig, head of Steptoe’s White-Collar Criminal Defense practice. “We are very happy to have found someone of his caliber to establish a Midwest presence for our white-collar team.”
“Steptoe has one of the premier white-collar practices in the country,” said Niewoehner. “Not only am I looking forward to working with the team’s very talented lawyers in representing senior executives and corporations in a variety of industries, I am excited about the opportunity to spearhead the first major geographic expansion of the practice beyond the east coast corridor and to establish a presence in Chicago.”
Mr. Niewoehner is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard Law School and Harvard College.
As part of a Rotary Scholarship, he traveled to New Delhi, India for graduate courses in international studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Prior to joining the U.S. attorney’s office in 2000, he clerked for Judge Milton Shadur of the Northern District of Illinois.