Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk Joins Perkins Coie’s Expanding Investigations and White Collar Defense Practice

CHICAGO (July 26, 2010) – Perkins Coie announced today that T. Markus Funk, a high-profile Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, will join the firm on October 1 as a partner. After a decade as an accomplished federal prosecutor, Funk will focus on corporate investigations, complex commercial litigation, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") matters. He will be based in the firm's Denver office, but will also be assisting the white collar team in Chicago.

Most recently, Funk served in U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Public Corruption and Organized Crime Section. While a federal prosecutor, Funk took 24 cases to trial, achieving convictions on all defendants. Funk also had a perfect record on appeal. Funk was part of the trial team in the landmark mob murder-racketeering conspiracy case dubbed "Operation Family Secrets." The U.S. Attorney General personally presented Funk and the team with the Department of Justice's Attorney General's Award (the "John Marshall Award") for their role in the prosecution of the Family Secrets case. This represented the first time prosecutors from the Chicago U.S. Attorney's office received this highest trial performance distinction.

"We are delighted that Markus has chosen our firm to launch his private practice," said Chris Wilson, Chicago office managing partner. "We know Markus will provide the same energy, enthusiasm and results which he brought to his role as a federal prosecutor to his clients in private practice. We particularly are excited about Markus assisting clients with his expertise in international FCPA matters."

From 2004 -2006, Funk served as the Department of Justice Resident Legal Advisor for Kosovo. In that capacity, he provided training and advice to the U.S. Ambassador, international judges and justices, defense attorneys, victim advocates, investigators, and prosecutors in Kosovo and throughout the Balkans, and represented the United States at high-level diplomatic negotiations. During this time, the Department of Justice published Funk's Kosovo Trial Skills Handbook, which remains the most cited source in Kosovo's Compilation of Applicable Criminal Laws, and the State Department conferred to Funk its prestigious Superior Honor Award.

Funk earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois with both a B.S. and a B.A. Funk, who was a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals judge Morris S. Arnold and Chief District Judge Catherine D. Perry, taught criminal law at Oxford University, and later also taught law at the University of Chicago Law School, Northwestern University School of Law, and the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center. In 2010, Oxford University Press published his widely-acclaimed book on victims’ rights and the International Criminal Court. Funk, who is also a candidate for a Ph.D. in law from Oxford University, grew up in a town outside of Frankfurt, Germany.

"We are honored that a highly-sought-after attorney of Markus’ caliber has chosen Perkins to join our rapidly expanding white collar team," said Patrick Collins, member of the Firm’s Executive Committee, and a former colleague of Markus’ at the U.S. Attorney’s office. "With Markus, we feel that we have put together a team that is second-to-none, and are particularly pleased that our clients will have the benefit of Markus’ international background and expertise."

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