Brian E. Steel

Background

Steel was born in 1965 in Queens, a borough of New York City. Queens had become part of the City of New York in 1898, when the city's five boroughs were consolidated into a single municipal government.

Education

Steel earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1987. The university, a public research institution in Ann Arbor, was founded in 1817 and grew into one of the largest public universities in the United States.

He then attended Fordham University School of Law, where he received a Juris Doctor in 1990. Fordham is a Jesuit university in New York City, and its law school dates to 1905. A later profile states that during law school Steel expected to become a tax attorney, before his career turned toward criminal defense.

Career

Steel's legal career began in public defense. From 1991 to 1993 he was an Assistant Public Defender in Fulton County, Atlanta. The Fulton County public defender office was established in 1967 to represent indigent citizens charged with criminal offenses who could not hire an attorney; it is now known as the Office of the Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit.

He then moved into private practice. From 1994 to 1997 he was a partner in Wolfe & Steel, Professional Corporation, in Atlanta, where he worked as a trial and appellate attorney. Professional corporations allow licensed professionals, such as lawyers, to practice together under a corporate structure. Georgia state records show that Wolfe & Steel was registered in December 1994, and they list Steel among its officers.

In 1997 he established The Steel Law Firm, P.C., with his wife, Colette Resnik Steel, who is also a criminal defense attorney. The firm has concentrated on criminal defense in state and federal courts, handling cases involving racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and murder. Steel served as lead defense attorney for the rapper Jeffery 'Young Thug' Williams in a Fulton County RICO trial that lasted more than 22 months, one of the longest trials in Georgia's history. He was also a member of the defense team for Sean Combs, and he was part of the defense team for the rapper Lil Durk, whose federal case in Los Angeles produced acquittals on all five charges.

Steel's appellate practice is also substantial. By his own account, his appellate work includes more than 45 reversals and over 300 published opinions. His bar admissions include Georgia in 1992, the Northern and Southern Districts of the United States District Court for Georgia in 1994, the Middle District in 1995, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996. The Eleventh Circuit hears federal appeals from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Alongside his practice, he has volunteered as an attorney for battered women's shelters.

Achievements

• Contributed to the defense team whose work produced acquittals for rapper Lil Durk on five federal charges linked to a 2022 shooting in Los Angeles.

• Secured the dismissal of an entire capital prosecution by establishing that his client was innocent.

• Within his appellate practice, he reports more than 45 reversals on appeal and over 300 published appellate opinions.

Membership

Steel is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, founded in 1950 to recognize excellence in courtroom advocacy and to improve the standards of trial practice. Fellowship is extended by invitation only to trial lawyers with at least fifteen years of trial experience.

He has served as president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a state organization for criminal defense attorneys, and he was a multi-term member and former chairperson of its Lawyers Assistance Committee – Strike Force. He was formerly on the board of directors of the Fulton County Conflict Defender, a public defense office in Fulton County.

• Fellow

  American College of Trial Lawyers , United States

• President; former chairperson of the Lawyers Assistance Committee – Strike Force

  Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers , United States

• Former member of the Board of Directors

  Fulton County Conflict Defender , United States

Interests

• Press coverage has described Steel as a marathon runner. He has also volunteered his legal services to battered women's shelters.

Connections

Steel is married to Colette Resnik Steel, an attorney who practices criminal defense. The two founded The Steel Law Firm together in 1997, and state records list her as an officer of the firm.

Wife:

Colette Resnik Steel

Criminal defense attorney who co-founded The Steel Law Firm with him in 1997 and is listed in state records as an officer of the firm.

References

• Wikipedia Encyclopedic overview of Steel's career as a defense attorney, including his representation of rapper Young Thug and his law firm.
• American College of Trial Lawyers Fellow profile Professional profile summarizing Steel's education, legal career, and recognitions, including the Commitment to Justice Award and Georgia Super Lawyer designations.
• Complex Magazine profile describing Steel's education, early career, law firm, and role in the Lil Durk federal case.