Fenwick & West LLP is pleased to announce that Christopher J. Steskal is joining the firm as a partner in the Securities Litigation Group, and as the Chair of its White Collar/Regulatory Practice Group. Prior to joining Fenwick & West, Chris was an Assistant U.S. Attorney, working as part of the Securities Fraud Section and Stock Option Task Force of the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco.

"The breadth of expertise in the Securities Litigation Group and range and volume of matters currently handled by Fenwick & West impressed me," said Steskal. "I was not actively looking to return to private practice when I was approached about the opportunity to join Fenwick & West. My tenure at the U.S. Attorney's Office has been tremendously rewarding and I am very proud of the work I have done for the United States over the past six years. However, I could not resist the unique opportunities available to me at Fenwick & West. The firm's reputation, platform and client base make it well positioned to develop a robust white collar practice. I am excited to add my skills and experience as a federal prosecutor to Fenwick & West's thriving securities litigation group. The firm is an ideal choice for my return to private practice."

Steskal joined the U.S. Attorney's office in 2001. During his tenure there, Steskal handled a wide range of matters, including trials, appeals and investigations involving stock option backdating, securities fraud, corporate fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and public corruption. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Steskal was a litigation attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, and Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco. He is a former law clerk for Ninth Circuit Judge James R. Browning and U.S. District Court Judge Harry L. Hupp. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1992. Chris will be resident in Fenwick & West's San Francisco office.

"We are thrilled that Chris will be joining us, and believe he augments perfectly one of the top securities litigation practices in the country," said firm Chair Gordon Davidson. "Law firms across the U.S. are competing for attorneys like Chris, who have extensive investigation and trial experience relating to white collar crime and corporate governance issues. Chris will be joining our firm just as many of the ongoing internal stock option investigations move to the regulatory review stage by the SEC and DOJ. We are very pleased that Chris chose Fenwick & West."