T. Markus Funk, a partner in Perkins Coie'ss Litigation practice and a member of the firm's Investigations & White Collar Defense group, is a seasoned trial attorney and investigator. Markus enjoys an international reputation as an exceptionally effective advocate in the areas of complex commercial litigation, corporate investigations, corporate white collar criminal defense, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) the UK Bribery Act, healthcare fraud, False Claims Act, civil fraud, 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 the 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. The U.S. Attorney General personally presented Markus and the team with the highest trial performance distinction the Department bestows on federal prosecutors, for their role in the prosecution of this historic case. This represented the only time prosecutors from the Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office received this top recognition.
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 efforts, and spear-headed the restructuring of Kosovo's post-conflict justice system. During this time, the Department of Justice published Markus' Kosovo Trial Skills Handbook, which was translated into Serbian and Albanian and 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 prestigious 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 wrote four books, including the highly regarded Stemming the Suffering: Victims' Rights and the International Criminal Court (Oxford University Press, Spring 2010) and Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses (co-authored with the Hon. Virginia M. Kendall). His legal work has been featured by outlets such as The Atlantic Monthly, CNBC, CNN, The Economist, Investor's Business Daily, The Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, The National Law Journal, 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.