Steven Kramer is retired from the firm and is now Of Counsel.
Prior to retiring, Mr. Kramer focused his practice on civil litigation (primarily complex business and securities litigation), government investigations and enforcement actions, and white-collar criminal defense. He handled a variety of civil litigation, including class actions, derivative cases, securities, antitrust, banking, commercial, contract, environmental, accountant's liability, RICO, ERISA, tax, and other complex litigation. He represented clients in Justice Department investigations, SEC investigations and enforcement proceedings, and investigations by various federal, state, and local government departments and agencies. He has tried a significant number of civil and criminal cases as well as administrative proceedings. Mr. Kramer also is experienced in alternative dispute resolution having handled numerous mediations encompassing a variety of issues. In 2016, he was appointed to the Mediator Panel for United States District Court, Central District of California. In 2015, he completed Mediating the Litigated Case, a six-day program for experienced litigators, in-house counsel, judges and other practitioners, at Pepperdine University School of Law's Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Mr. Kramer served as General Counsel to a SEC registered Investment Advisor from 2017 through 2021, and a Senior Advisor/Consultant to the Investment Advisor in 2022.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kramer was an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and a member of the Fraud and Special Prosecutions Unit. While at the US Attorney's Office, he served as an instructor at the advanced criminal trial course given by the Department of Justice, Trial Advocacy Institute in Washington, DC. Mr. Kramer also served as a trial attorney with the Division of Enforcement of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. At the SEC, he handled a number of civil and administrative proceedings, involving violations of the federal securities laws by public and privately held companies, broker/dealers, investment advisers, investment companies, and accounting firms. Before joining the firm, Mr. Kramer was a partner with the law firm of Mayer Brown and before that a partner with the law firm of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro.