Markus Funk, a former Chicago federal prosecutor and conflict-deployed State Department attorney in Kosovo, has represented clients in many consequential and highly publicized cases in the United States and abroad.
His clientele and cases reflect the high caliber of his work. Markus has represented companies of all sizes, as well as corporate executives and audit committees and boards; federal judges; Nobel laureates; NFL, NBA, and other professional sports franchises and athletes; A-list celebrities; countries and foreign agencies; diplomats; and US and foreign politicians and business leaders in civil litigation, internal investigations, and criminal matters.
He successfully first-chaired dozens of federal and state civil and criminal trials, briefed and argued more than 20 federal and state appeals, directed more than 450 investigations, and argued more than 700 in-court evidentiary hearings and other contested proceedings.
A fellow of the American Law Institute who is Chambers ranked Band 1 locally, as well as nationally and globally, and is a multiple "Lawyer of the Year" recipient, Markus uniquely received both the DOJ's prestigious Attorney General's Award for the nation's top trial performance and the US State Department's Superior Honor Award. The latter was awarded for his service as the DOJ Section Chief in Kosovo. He also received the ABA’s highest award for dedication to survivors of crime.
During his public service, Markus and his team prosecuted Operation Family Secrets, a landmark investigation into organized crime activity in Chicago described by NPR as "one of the most important criminal investigations... in American history" (the defendants in the case were portrayed in the 1995 Martin Scorsese movie Casino). At the time of his departure from the DOJ, the Chicago Sun-Times described Markus as a "street-smart prosecutor with an Oxford pedigree."
Markus's background as a German-American dual national, coupled with his other extensive international experience, allows him to bring a distinct outlook to his legal practice. A US District Court Judge in Chicago, commenting to a reporter, offered that Markus "has this unbelievable global perspective that is very rare in US legal analysis."
Markus's impact extends beyond his legal practice. He is a recognized thought leader in criminal law, commercial disputes, compliance and trial techniques. The author of 11 books and more than 300 articles, he has spoken by invitation on cutting-edge commercial litigation and white collar issues at various institutions, including the US Senate, the DOJ, Oxford University, the Vatican, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, the University of Chicago, the New York City Office of the Mayor, the FBI and the World Bank Group.
Markus earned a Doctor of Philosophy in law from Oxford University, where he began his career as a Lecturer in Law and was a member of the varsity tennis team. Before that, he earned his law degree from Northwestern University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. Markus also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Morris S. Arnold of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and to Judge Catherine Perry of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Before embarking on his legal career, he worked as a ski technician and late-night clerk at the Super 8 Motel in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.