Steven S. Scholes is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Chicago office. He is a member of the Firm’s SEC Defense Group and leader of the Subprime and Credit Markets Litigation Group. Steve concentrates his trial practice in all varieties of securities and other complex commercial litigation. He has tried civil, criminal and administrative cases in federal and state courts, and he regularly represents clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission and self-regulatory organizations, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and numerous stock, options and futures exchanges.
Steve has substantial experience in securities class actions, including cases alleging accounting irregularities, illegal trading, and breaches of fiduciary duty, among other things. Steve regularly represents public companies and their officers and directors in merger and acquisition litigation, including both class and derivative actions, across the country. He also has substantial experience in conducting internal investigations and in representing individuals who are subjects of internal investigations.
A former attorney in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, Steve frequently speaks on securities litigation and enforcement topics. He has appeared numerous times in the press and has authored various materials concerning the federal securities laws. Steve is a member of the Securities Law360 Editorial Board and he has served as a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He also serves on the Business Conduct Committee of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as well as on the Board of Visitors of the University of Illinois College of Law. Since 2008, Steve has been nationally ranked in Benchmark Litigation as a leader in securities litigation and as a lawyer most consistently recommended as a “bet the company” counsel. He received an “AV" Peer Rating, the highest rating available, from Martindale-Hubbell, and was selected as a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics, which names the top five percent of lawyers in each state as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics. Steve was also named a Top Attorney in Illinois by Chicago Magazine and an Illinois Super Lawyer 2012 by Super Lawyers.
Steve has been appointed by three different federal judges in Chicago to serve as receiver in SEC civil enforcement proceedings. His work as receiver included conducting fraud investigations, prosecuting fraudulent conveyance claims, enforcing judgments, marshalling and liquidating assets, and developing and implementing plans of distribution. Stemming from his work as a receiver, Steve has substantial experience in both prosecuting and defending a wide variety of fraudulent conveyance claims.
Steve is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court, the State of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Seventh and Eighth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (trial bar), the Northern District of Indiana, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Central District of Illinois. He is also a member of the American Bar Association’s Federal Regulation of Securities Committee, as well as its Subcommittees on Criminal Laws and Civil Litigation and SEC Enforcement Matters. He is a past co-chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Securities Law Committee (2001-2002) and the Securities Law Committee’s Subcommittee on SEC Litigation and Enforcement (1999-2000). He is also a member of the Compliance and Legal Division of the Securities Industry Association, the Association of SEC Alumni, as well as the Futures Law Committee, and Financial and Investment Services Committee of the Chicago Bar Association.
Education
- University of Illinois College of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 1985
- Eastern Illinois University, B.A. (with highest distinction), 1981
