LAWYER
Steven A. Engel
Partner | Washington, D.C. | New York
Steven A. Engel

In a career spanning both private and public practice, Steven A. Engel is a leading litigator and counselor, acting as an advocate in high-profile trial and appellate matters and advising clients on their most sensitive and complex legal issues. Mr. Engel is the Chair of Dechert’s Appellate and Regulatory Litigation Group and has appeared in courts across the country, handling a wide range of civil litigation matters, including administrative law, commercial litigation, constitutional law and securities cases. He regularly counsels clients on challenges to agency regulations and in connection with government, congressional and internal investigations.

Until January 2021, Mr. Engel served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. As the head of the office, Mr. Engel served as the chief counsel to the Attorney General and the principal legal adviser to the Executive Branch, providing legal advice to the President and cabinet secretaries on the most critical constitutional and statutory questions, including matters pertaining to national security, administrative law, criminal law, congressional oversight, and executive orders. In December 2020, Mr. Engel was awarded the Department of Justice’s highest honor, the Edmund J. Randolph Award, for outstanding service to the Department.

Before his appointment as Assistant Attorney General in 2017, Mr. Engel had been a partner at Dechert since 2009 and previously served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. Mr. Engel clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court for Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for Judge Alex Kozinski.

Mr. Engel is a member of the Advisory Committee on Rules for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Administrative Conference of the United States. He has been an Adjunct Professor at the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University and the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and was formerly the Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State. He has been nationally ranked as a leading lawyer in The Legal 500 USA and Benchmark Litigation. Mr. Engel has frequently commented on legal subjects in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and has appeared on national news programs as a legal analyst, including on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network. Mr. Engel has testified on several occasions before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

Recent Matters

  • Fox Corporation in connection with FuboTV’s antitrust lawsuit against a streaming sports application planned by Fox, Disney, and Warner Brothers Discovery.
  • Fox News Channel in connection with Hunter Biden’s lawsuit against the company arising out of the broadcast of The Trial of Hunter Biden.
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in numerous matters at the U.S. Supreme Court and in the federal and state appellate courts, including SEC v. Jarkesy at the U.S. Supreme Court, the challenge to the private fund advisers rule, NAPFM v. SEC, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, a successful challenge to the constitutionality of the False Claims Act in federal district court in Florida now pending on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
  • Independent directors of Coinbase in connection with Delaware Chancery Court litigation over the direct listing of the company.
    • The Special Committee of 23andMe in connection with the consideration of potential strategic acquisitions.
    • The MOL Group in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in connection with efforts to enforce a nine-figure arbitration award against the Republic of Croatia.
    • Willoughby Capital Holdings in connection with multiple Delaware lawsuits involving the acquisition and management of Sculptor Capital Holdings, LLC.
    • The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York in multiple appeals against the City of New York before the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
    • Zillow in defending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the trial judgment in REX v. Zillow. 
    • Numerous amici before the U.S. Supreme Court in a range of appeals, including the American Action Forum, Americans for Tax Reform, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, and 44 U.S. Senators in cases involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the constitutionality of federal taxation, Chevron deference under administrative law, and the constitutionality of the Department of Education’s loan forgiveness program.
    • A leading trade association for the sturgeon industry in connection with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s potential endangerment findings under the Endangered Species Act.
    • The Investment Company Institute as amicus in the Second Circuit in a case involving the Investment Company Act of 1940.
    • The former CEO of Platinum Partners in a post-conviction proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and related appellate proceedings.
    • Real estate investors in a pending Executive Law Section 63(12) action brought by the New York Attorney General.
    • Multiple clients in pending investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the New York Attorney General.
    • The Office of Legal Counsel, Yale Law School Federalist Society (Apr. 11, 2023)
    • Chevron and the Court’s Next Steps on Deregulation and the Administration State, The C. Boyden Grey Center for the Study of the Administrative State (May 30, 2023)
    • Cornell Federalist Society Event and Steven Engel, Federalist Society Cornel Law School Student Chapter (Nov. 7, 2022).
    • Can Business Still Dream Big in California: Breaking Down California’s Overreach, Federalist Society’s In-House Counsel Network (Sep. 30, 2022)
    • The 70th Anniversary of Youngstown: Reflections on Executive-Legislative Relations, Harvard Law School (Sep. 20, 2022)
    • Congress, Jurisdiction, Process, & the Institution of the Supreme Court, The C. Boyden Grey Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the Ethics and Public Policy Center (May 25, 2022)
    • Religious Liberty and the Supreme Court, The C. Boyden Grey Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the Ethics and Public Policy Center (Apr. 8, 2022)
    • Steven Engel and the Office of Legal Counsel, Federalist Society George Washington Student Chapter (Mar. 30, 2022)
    • President Biden’s New Supreme Court Nomination, Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy (Mar. 1, 2022)
    • Responding to Emergency: A Blueprint for Liberty in a Time of Crisis, Nondelegation, and Covid-19, Pacific Legal Foundation (Feb. 3, 2022).
    • Department of Justice: Executive Supervision or Independence, Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy (June 17, 2021)
    • Quoted, Del. Courts Saw APE Wars, Fox Fury and a Barr Fight in 2023 - Law360 (December 20, 2023)
    • Delaware Court of Chancery Finds for Oracle Founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz in Post- Trial Decision Arising from Oracle’s Acquisition of NetSuite - (May 18, 2023)
    • Don’t Trade on Me: Second Circuit Excludes Confidential Agency Information from the Definition of “Property” in Insider Trading Case - (January 17, 2023)
    • Major Decision for Major Questions: Supreme Court Reins in Federal Regulatory Authority - (July 20, 2022)
    • Antitrust Verdict for Endo - (July 01, 2022)
    • Showdown at the Fifth Circuit Corral—Panel Rules SEC Home-Court Proceedings Violate Multiple Constitutional Provisions - (May 25, 2022)
    • Not So Stable: Stablecoin Volatility Causing Turmoil in Crypto Markets - (May 25, 2022)
    • SEC Tags Nvidia for Alleged Disclosure Insufficiencies in its Cryptocurrency Mining Business - (May 19, 2022)
    • Biden Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets: A Critical Opportunity to Shape Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Policy - (April 05, 2022)
    • Congress Moves to Combat Use of Forced Labor in Supply Chain - (February 16, 2022)
    • Federal Court Rejects DOJ’s Novel and Extraterritorial Effort To Extend FCPA Jurisdiction to Foreign Agents - (December 03, 2021)
    • I Walk the Line: Feds Vow to Aggressively Pursue Lenders Engaging in “Redlining” - (November 04, 2021)
    • Former Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel Rejoins Dechert - (May 03, 2021)
    Services Industries
      • Yale Law School, J.D., 2000, Essays Editor of the Yale Law Journal, recipient of the Benjamin N. Cardozo Prize for the best brief submitted in Moot Court, the Israel H. Peres Prize for the most outstanding note in the Yale Law Journal, the Thurman Arnold Appellate Competition Prize, and the William K.S. Wang Prize for top performance in introductory corporate law
      • University of Cambridge, M.Phil., 1997
      • Harvard College, A.B., 1996, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship, funding graduate study in England
      • District of Columbia
      • New York
      • Supreme Court of the United States
      • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
      • United States District Court for the District of Columbia
      • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
      • Supreme Court of the United States, Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy
      • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Honorable Alex Kozinski