Steven Berk is Of Counsel to the Ruddy Law Office and brings twenty plus years of litigation experience to the firm. Throughout his career, Mr. Berk has counseled clients in Securities and Exchange Commission investigations ("SEC") litigated claims involving securities fraud and represented clients before various administrative agencies regulating the securities industry including FINRA, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC").
Mr. Berk served as an Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") for the District of Columbia from 1990-1994. As a federal prosecutor, he was lead trial counsel in over twenty-five jury trials in the Federal District Court and Superior Court for the District of Columbia. He also prepared and presented several appellate cases before the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and conducted numerous investigations and cases to state and federal grand juries. He focused during his tenure as an AUSA on prosecuting economic crimes and was recognized and awarded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his work in connection with the investigation, indictment and convictions of several individuals who embezzled millions from a District of Columbia based pension fund.
Mr. Berk also served as a Trial Attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in the Office of the General Counsel. In that position, he prosecuted cases against professionals (accountants and attorneys) practicing before the Commission under Rule 2(e) and represented the Commission in federal court on a number of administrative matters.
After his tenure in the government, Mr. Berk became a partner in the Washington office of Jenner & Block, an Am Law top 100 law firm with over 500 lawyers. Jenner is consistently recognized as having one of the leading litigation practices in the country. At the firm, he was lead trial counsel in a number of commercial cases in federal and state courts. His substantive expertise includes federal and state regulatory issues, antitrust litigation and counseling; internal corporate investigations; and white-collar criminal defense. He also spearheaded a successful nationwide litigation and legislative campaign to enable Certified Public Accountants to concurrently serve as Certified Financial Planners and sell securities to their clients. In doing so, he became a recognized expert on ethical and conflict of interest rules governing the accounting profession.
Mr. Berk is a member of the District of Columbia and Illinois Bars. He is currently a standing member of the DC Judicial Evaluation Committee. He has been admitted to practice before several federal district and circuit courts across the country and is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court.
He graduated magna cum laude from Boston College School of Law where he served as Managing Editor of the Law Review. He earned an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in International Relations and an A.B. with honors from Washington University.
