Overview

Mark Schneider is a partner whose practice focuses on representing businesses, their boards and executives in complex criminal, civil and administrative investigations, government enforcement proceedings and related litigation, often in highly regulated industries and international contexts.

Chambers USA describes Mark as “great — he is super smart, super responsive and very easy to work with, always giving practical advice.” Chambers notes his “vast knowledge and strong business acumen,” “pragmatic” approach and a way of “condensing complicated issues into plain language that is easy to understand.” In profiling his work, The National Law Journal cited descriptions of Mark as “exceedingly smart in an understated way,” and emphasized his “legal talent and lack of pretension.”

Mark has substantial experience representing clients in complex matters related to the False Claims Act, securities and commodities regulation, antitrust, trade secret theft, export controls and other regulatory issues. Mark also advises clients in evaluating and mitigating compliance risks and is deeply involved in the Firm’s Japan practice.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Mark served for a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice. Mark worked in senior leadership and supervisory roles at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, including as Chief of Appeals, Deputy Chief of Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions, head of the Medicare Fraud Task Force, Criminal Health Care Fraud Coordinator, Food and Drug Administration Coordinator and Child Exploitation Crimes Coordinator. He tried numerous complex fraud and other cases before juries and briefed or edited more than 100 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Mark’s international and national security experience included deploying to Baghdad for a year to help lead civilian Rule of Law efforts throughout Iraq. Later, as Special Attorney to the Attorney General, he prosecuted a former CIA officer for willfully disclosing the identity of a covert officer in violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, the second such case in U.S. history and one described by the then-CIA Director as “an important victory for our Agency, for our Intelligence Community, and for our country.”

Mark also taught for five years as adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to studying law, Mark worked as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, Inc., and on the staff of the late U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar.

Mark graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Indiana University, as a Wells Scholar.

More

Thought Leadership

Publications

Co-author, “White-Collar Crime Practice Guide – U.S. Chapter,” Chambers & Partners, October 2019

Recognition

Recognized for Criminal Defense: White Collar, The Best Lawyers in America, 2021–2024

Recognized in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (Illinois), Chambers USA, 2019–2024

Emerging Leader, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 2014–2016

Term Member, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 2009–2014

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) National Award, 2014

40 under 40, Chicago Rising Stars, The National Law Journal, 2013

Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, National Group Achievement Award, 2013

Award of Excellence, Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, 2011

Director’s Award, Office of Criminal Investigations, Food and Drug Administration, 2006

Heyman Fellow, Program on Government Service, Harvard Law School, 2004

Memberships & Affiliations

Member, American Law Institute

Member, Seventh Circuit Bar Association

Member, Board of Directors, Lumen Christi Institute

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 2011Illinois
  • 2003Indiana

Courts

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
  • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Education

  • Harvard Law SchoolJ.D.magna cum laude2003
    Editor, Harvard Law Review
  • University of OxfordM.A. (Oxon)2003
  • University of OxfordB.A., Philosophy, Politics and Economicswith Honors1998
    Marshall Scholar
  • Indiana UniversityB.A., Chemistry & Political Sciencewith Highest Honors1996

    Herman B Wells Scholar

    Truman Scholar