Steptoe & Johnson LLP announced that Stacie Hartman, an accomplished regulatory enforcement lawyer and first-chair litigator, has joined the firm as co-chair of its Financial Services Group. She will reside in the Chicago office and will also maintain a New York office. 

Hartman focuses her practice on financial services litigation and enforcement. She has represented clients in court as well as enforcement proceedings before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, National Futures Association, and financial exchanges, and in investigations by the Department of Justice. 

"Stacie has a national reputation among derivatives and futures lawyers and a strong CFTC and SEC practice," said Phil West, chair of Steptoe. "Her extensive experience, coupled with her record of leadership, makes her the ideal person to co-lead our Financial Services practice with Micah Green and to continue the expansion of that group." 

Hartman's arrival also continues the growth of Steptoe's commercial litigation practice, which over the past year has welcomed nine partners, including first-chair litigators Robyn Crowther and Stephanie Sheridan, who lead the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, respectively. 

Hartman commented: "I have known Charley Mills and Micah for many years through my work before the CFTC and in the derivatives industry, and have been impressed by the pre-eminent financial services team at Steptoe. I am excited to take on this leadership role at Steptoe to continue to build upon the growth of the practice and the Chicago office." 

Steptoe's financial services practice provides a comprehensive approach for addressing the interplay of legislative, regulatory, compliance, investigations, and enforcement challenges created by implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and other financial regulations. The group's clients include commercial and investment banks, broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, proprietary trading firms, major financial infrastructure, insurance companies, trade repositories, trading platforms, hedge funds, asset managers, developers and trading platforms of cryptocurrencies, and other capital markets participants. 

Hartman is active with several industry groups, including the ABA Derivatives and Futures Law Committee, the Futures Industry Association, and the Women's White Collar Defense Association, and is a frequent speaker on issues faced by financial market participants. Since 2012, Hartman has been recognized each year as a "Leading Lawyer" by Leading Lawyers, a division of Law Bulletin Publishing Company, which publishes the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer. She sits on the board of directors for ADL (formerly the Anti-Defamation League), Midwest region, the Joffrey Ballet Women’s Board, and the board of directors for the Chicago Fashion Incubator. 

Hartman earned her J.D. and B.A. from Northwestern University and served as a judicial extern for the Honorable George Marovich of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois while she was in law school.