T. Markus Funk is a partner in Perkins Coie’s Litigation practice and a member of the firm’s Investigations & White Collar Defense group. A seasoned trial attorney and investigator who helped establish the firm's Corporate Social Responsibility and Supply Chain Practice, Markus counsels corporate and individual clients in the areas of complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, compliance, and corporate white collar criminal defense. Markus focuses on corporate social responsibility and global supply chain compliance and due diligence, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, Corporate Social Responsibility, Trafficking & Supply Chain Task Force, healthcare fraud, False Claims Act, customs and export control, civil fraud, class action defense, education law, and RICO matters. As a federal prosecutor in Chicago with ten years’ experience, Markus tried more than 24 federal cases (achieving convictions in all of them), headed hundreds of investigations of and indicted hundreds of cases, and also has extensive appellate experience.
During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, Markus prosecuted "Operation Family Secrets," which is described as the most extensive racketeering case of its kind in U.S. history. Selected from some 9,000 federal trials that year to receive the Attorney General's Award, the U.S. Attorney General personally presented Markus and the team with the highest trial performance distinction the Department bestows on federal prosecutors, a first for the Chicago US Attorney's Office.
From 2004-06, Markus served as the Department of Justice Resident Legal Advisor for Kosovo, helping oversee the U.S.’s multi-million dollar efforts to bring the rule of law to this war-torn region. In that capacity, Markus represented the United States at diplomatic negotiations, led Balkan-wide efforts to modernize anti-corruption and anti-fraud enforcement, and spear-headed the restructuring of Kosovo’s post-conflict justice system. Markus also worked with US and foreign government officials and business leaders to fight human trafficking. During this time, Markus authored the Kosovo Trial Skills Handbook, which remains the most cited source in Kosovo's Compilation of Applicable Criminal Laws.
In recognition of his service while abroad, the US Department of State conferred to Markus its Superior Honor Award for "sustained extraordinary performance," the highest general service award conferred by the State Department. Markus has the distinction of being the only person to have received both the Department of Justice's Attorney General's Award and the State Department's Superior Honor Award.
In addition to authoring dozens of criminal law-related academic and popular articles, as well as book chapters on a wide variety of topics, Markus authored a number of books, including Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses (Rowman Littlefield, 2012; co-authored with Chicago US District Judge Virginia M. Kendall), Stemming the Suffering: Victims’ Rights and the International Criminal Court (Oxford University Press, 2010), The Haiti Trial Skills Manual (American Bar Association), and the forthcoming Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Guide for federal judges (Federal Judicial Center). His legal work has been featured by outlets such as The Atlantic, CNBC, CNN, The Economist, The History Channel, Investor’s Business Daily, The Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, The National Law Journal, National Geographic TV, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Markus started his legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. Morris S. Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry, and as a Lecturer in Law at Oxford University.
