T Markus Funk

Practice Areas

Litigation

White Collar & Investigations

International Transactions & Trade

Supply Chain Compliance & Corporate Social Responsibility

China Practice

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Compliance & Defense

Higher Education

Compliance & Internal Controls

International Trade

Africa Practice

Latin American Compliance

Asia-Pacific Compliance

Workplace Harassment

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance for Businesses

Consumer Finance Law

Environmental, Social & Governance Counseling

Mining

Retail & Consumer Products

Food & Beverage

Sports

Outdoor

Educational Institutions & Services

Career

T. Markus Funk, who from 2016-21 was the firmwide chair of Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations Practice, served for a decade as a Chicago federal prosecutor, Section Chief with the U.S. State Department-Balkans, federal appellate and district court clerk, and law professor at institutions including Oxford University (where he earned his PhD in law and was a member of the varsity/”blues” tennis team), the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. He is also the founding co-chair of Perkins’ Supply Chain Compliance and Higher Education practices and the founding chair of the ABA’s Global Anti-Corruption Committee.

During his time in public service, Markus and his team prosecuted Operation Family Secrets, which National Public Radio lauded as “one of the most important criminal investigations . . . in American history” (the 1995 movie “Casino” was based on the charged criminal activities). At the time of his departure from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Chicago Sun-Times described Markus as a “street-smart prosecutor with an Oxford pedigree.” Reflective of his ongoing commitment to victims of crime, the ABA awarded Markus the Frank Carrington Crime Victim Attorney Award, given to one person or organization each year who has “done the most” for victims of crime in the United States.

Named a fellow of the American Law Institute in 2015, Markus has the unique distinction of having received both the Department of Justice’s prestigious Attorney General’s Award for the nation’s top trial performance (selected from about 9,000 federal jury trials that year) and the U.S. State Department’s Superior Honor Award for service to the country (for the work he performed in post-conflict Kosovo).

Markus entered private practice in 2010. He has successfully tried over 25 federal, state civil and criminal jury cases, briefed and argued dozens of federal appeals throughout the country, and directed over 400 investigations. He has also penned 10 law-related books and over 200 law review, journal, and popular articles for outlets ranging from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg to Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Georgetown, and the University of Oxford, most often on white collar, commercial litigation, and investigations-related topics.

Markus draws on his unusually diverse background to conduct sensitive internal investigations for U.S. and international institutions of all sizes, ranging from NFL franchises and Fortune 50 companies to nonprofits and higher education institutions. Markus is also regularly tapped to lead complex litigation and business disputes for clients that include federal judges, Nobel laureates, corporate executives, A-list celebrities, diplomats, professors, members of audit committees and boards, U.S. and foreign politicians, financial institutions, and professional athletes. One federal judge offered that Markus “has this unbelievable global perspective that is very rare in U.S. legal analysis.” Another, referencing Markus’ work as a federal prosecutor, commented that Markus “became a hero to the FBI and law enforcement agencies.”