No. of offices 9 Major practice areas General practice Company type LLP | No. of attorneys 374 Date founded 1945 Founded 1945 | |
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Key people Philip R. West (Chairman) Headquarters Washington, D.C., United States Founders Louis A. Johnson, Col. Louis A. Johnson, Philip Steptoe | ||
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is the 93rd highest-grossing law firm in the United States according to the Am Law 100.
Contents
History
Philip Steptoe and Col. Louis A. Johnson, classmates from the University of Virginia School of Law, formed Steptoe & Johnson in 1913 in Clarksburg, WV. In 1928, Steptoe & Johnson opened an office in Charleston, WV, to meet the expanding legislative and regulatory work available in the state capital. Meanwhile, Col. Johnson helped found the American Legion, bringing national prominence to himself and the firm when he served as the organization’s commander in the mid-1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Col. Johnson deputy secretary of war in 1937.
After leaving the Roosevelt administration, Col. Johnson opened the Washington D.C. office of Steptoe & Johnson in 1945. Shortly thereafter, Col. Johnson was again tapped for public service, this time by President Harry S. Truman, for whom he served as secretary of defense until 1950.
The firm’s Washington office grew quickly under Col. Johnson’s influence. Among its first clients were the members of the growing airlines industry, as well as pipelines, railroads, and foreign companies whose assets had been seized during World War II. In assisting these clients, Steptoe became known as a prominent firm in regulatory law, tax, and international trade.
In 1980, the firm began a period of growth, starting with the amicable separation of the Washington and West Virginia offices. The West Virginia firm known as Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is still based in Clarksburg, WV.
In 1987, a combination of client needs and business opportunities led to the opening of a Steptoe 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).
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 practice and to accept payment in bitcoin.
Pro Bono
Steptoe ranked 19th among Am Law 200 firms in The American Lawyer's 2015 pro bono report, based on average hours spent on and breadth of commitment to pro bono work. The firm’s pro bono efforts have been recognized by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the John Carroll Society, the Children’s Law Center, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, and the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, among others.