Steven Schulman

B.A., Brandeis; J.D., Northwestern. Professor Schulman is the pro bono partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, responsible for leading the firm’s pro bono practice worldwide. Professor Schulman maintains a substantive practice in many areas of public interest law, including human rights, immigration, issues affecting military personnel and charter schools. Professor Schulman joined Akin Gump as its first full-time pro bono partner in 2006, after leading Latham & Watkins' pro bono practice from 2001-2004. While at Latham & Watkins, he developed and implemented that firm’s signature Child Refugee Project, assisting unaccompanied alien children in the United States through individual representation, legislative counseling and systemic reform.  Since his arrival at Akin Gump, pro bono hours per attorney have more than doubled, and the firm has received numerous awards and accolades for its pro bono practice.

Professor Schulman has taught at George Washington University School of Law and Stanford Law School, and is a frequent lecturer at law schools around the country on both public interest issues and law firm economics.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Appleseed and the Board of Advocates of Human Rights First, and serves as Vice President of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo). He has served as co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Pro Bono and Public Interest Litigation Committee (2002-2005), on the ABA Commission on Immigration (2004-2005), and on the Legal Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Akin Gump, Professor Schulman worked on antitrust and white collar criminal matters. In private antitrust litigation, Professor Schulman represented clients in a variety of industries, including defense contracting and healthcare. In mergers and acquisitions, Professor Schulman represented clients in dozens of transactions before the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. Reported merger cases include FTC v. Libbey and FTC v. Swedish Match. Professor Schulman also represented corporations in criminal matters and internal investigations. Professor Schulman represented the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee in its successful defense of a federal criminal probe into its Olympic bidding practices. He also conducted an internal investigation for the Board of Directors of the Ford Motor Company concerning tread separations on Firestone tires used on Ford Explorers.