Steven Alan Reiss is nationally recognized for complex civil, criminal and international matters, especially those with multi-jurisdictional or parallel civil and criminal components. In recent years, he has represented companies in many of the major international antitrust investigations and litigations, including those involving the airlines, auction houses, auto parts, freight forwarders, helicopter services, vitamins, lysine, carbon fiber, EPDM rubber, orthopedic implants, graphite electrodes, MSG, military insignia and milk industries.
He also has extensive experience in representing companies and individuals in a variety of other high stakes/high profile matters - including major constitutional litigation - at trial and on appeal; and he currently heads the firm’s appellate practice. Representative clients for whom Mr. Reiss has handled significant matters include American Airlines, Apple, Avon, BMW, Bovis Lendlease, Bridgestone Tire, Credit Suisse, Empire Blue Cross, Ericsson, the European Union, ExxonMobil, General Electric, General Motors, Tommy Hilfiger, Hughes, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Oracle, the New York State Assembly, Panasonic, Sotheby's, Sumitomo Chemical, Elizabeth Taylor and Toray.
He has been named one of The Best Lawyers in America in four categories: Antitrust Litigation, Appellate Litigation, Commercial Litigation and White Collar Criminal Defense.
Prior to joining Weil in 1989, Mr. Reiss was a tenured professor of law at New York University Law School, where he taught criminal law, constitutional law, evidence and trial advocacy. He has published numerous books and articles and co-authored Modern Federal Jury Instructions, a standard reference work on jury instructions and practice in the federal courts. He was the editor-in-chief and then contributing editor of the White Collar Crime Reporter and the Reporter for Second Circuit Judicial Conference Committee on Juries. He currently serves as General Counsel to the Brennan Center, a premier public policy interest law firm that specializes in a spectrum of constitutional issues and public policy litigation.
Mr. Reiss served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court and to Judge John Minor Wisdom of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was articles editor of the Law Review, and Vassar College, where he has served as a trustee.
Public Service and Professional Activities
- The Brennan Center for Justice: General Counsel and Member of the Board
- The Innocence Project: Member of the Board
- Oxfam America: Member of the Board
- Volunteers of Legal Services: Member of the Board
- Professor of Law, New York University Law School (1981- 1991 )
- Law Clerk, Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., United States Supreme Court
- Law Clerk, Judge John Minor Wisdom, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit