Brian M Heberlig

White-Collar Defense | Securities Enforcement | Independent & Internal Investigations | FCPA/Anti-Corruption | Sanctions & Export Controls | Antitrust |Health Care & FDA Fraud

Brian Heberlig is one of the nation's leading white-collar criminal defense trial lawyers, known for winning high-stakes federal jury trials and dismantling complex government prosecutions. He represents individuals and companies in the most sensitive criminal, regulatory, and congressional investigations, with a particular focus on cases that are headed for trial.

Brian has served as trial counsel in many of the most significant white-collar prosecutions of the past two decades, securing acquittals, mid-trial dismissals, and post-trial reversals in cases involving securities fraud, sanctions and export controls, bribery, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, and national security–related offenses. He is widely recognized for his ability to distill complex financial, technical, and regulatory issues into compelling jury narratives.

In addition to his trial practice, Brian regularly advises clients facing parallel criminal, civil, and regulatory exposure in investigations and enforcement actions by the Department of Justice, the SEC, and congressional committees, as well as in complex commercial litigation. He is frequently retained when negotiations have stalled, indictments are imminent, or trial is unavoidable.

Brian is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a three-time recipient of The American Lawyer's Litigator of the Week. Ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA, clients and peers have described Brian as a "stellar trial lawyer" who is "extremely detail-oriented, strategic and very skilled" in the courtroom. His success in a trial involving a rare Rule 29 acquittal earned praise from the presiding federal judge, who described his advocacy as "crisp, cogent, thoughtful," and "some of the best trial work we have ever had the privilege to see in this or any courtroom."

For more than a decade, Brian chaired Steptoe's Investigations and White-Collar Defense group. He is a member of the firm's Executive Committee.