Dave Eggers and Perkins Coie’s Firmwide White Collar & Investigations Chair (and former Chicago federal prosecutor) Markus Funk have a candid and probing conversation about today’s calls for fundamental criminal justice reform. Dave and Markus cover a wide range of topics, including why we need to fundamentally rethink the state’s treatment of suspects, defendants, and inmates; whether non-violent offenders like actress Lori Loughlin and Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff ought to receive prison sentences; what it means to “defund” the police; the tragic George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ariel Roman, and Ahmaud Arbery cases; how to improve law enforcement recruitment and training; whether it is time to reconsider arresting DUI, shoplifting, and other suspects in the absence of a threat to the public; the epidemic of criminalization and mass incarceration; the importance of empathy in law enforcement; qualified immunity; procedural justice and the need to ensure systemic legitimacy and creditworthiness; and the pros and cons of including imprisonment as part of an incremental punishment regime.

Listen to “A Conversation with Author Dave Eggers About Criminal Justice Reform” on Spreaker

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Markus Funk, who from 2016 – 2021 served as the firmwide chair of the White Collar & Investigations practice, is a decorated former federal prosecutor in Chicago, and a former section chief with the U.S. State Department-Balkans. He earned a PhD (DPhil) in…

Markus Funk, who from 2016 – 2021 served as the firmwide chair of the White Collar & Investigations practice, is a decorated former federal prosecutor in Chicago, and a former section chief with the U.S. State Department-Balkans. He earned a PhD (DPhil) in law from Oxford University, where he started his career as a lecturer in law. In 2021, Chambers ranked him “Band 1” for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations – Colorado and also included him in the rankings for FCPA – USA – Nationwide (a first for a lawyer based in Colorado/the Rocky Mountain Region).

In private practice since 2010, Markus focuses on internal investigations, complex commercial litigation both at the trial and appellate levels, white collar criminal defense, corporate social responsibility and supply chain compliance, and corporate counseling. He was selected to serve as a World Bank Group advisor and monitor to an Africa-based company seeking reinstatement following debarment, and he routinely counsels clients and conducts internal investigations and reviews throughout the world. During his time in public service, Markus and his team prosecuted “Operation Family Secrets,” which National Public Radio lauded as “one of the most important criminal investigations . . . in American history” (the 1995 movie “Casino” was based on the charged criminal activities). At the time of his departure from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Chicago Sun-Times described Markus as a “street-smart prosecutor with an Oxford pedigree.”

Markus also is the founding co-chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance practice and in 2015 was tapped to head up the firm’s Africa Practice. The recipient of numerous awards, he was named Colorado’s “Best Overall Litigator” (2015); “Colorado White Collar Lawyer of the Year” (2015); one of “10 Best Attorneys for the State of Illinois” (2014) and “10 Best Attorneys for the State of Colorado” (2017); and “Lawyer of the Year” (2013). He co-founded the ABA’s Global Anti-Corruption Committee in 2010 and has chaired the section since then. He is also ranked “Band 1” by Chambers and Partners, who in their 2019 assessment quoted one of Markus’ clients, saying “his knowledge and experience base far surpasses any other attorney that we have worked with and he is always extremely thorough and proactive, enabling us to get well ahead of any situation at hand.”

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