About CHI T. STEVE
Chi T. Steve Kwok began his legal path at Princeton University, where he earned an A.B. in 1999. He moved on to Yale Law School and received his J.D. in 2002. Those academic years placed him in the center of major legal conversations on campus and set the stage for a string of influential clerkships and government posts.
After law school Kwok served as a law clerk to Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2002. He then spent a year clerking for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. Those consecutive clerkships offered early exposure to high-stakes appellate work and complex constitutional issues.
Kwok shifted into public service soon after his time on the bench. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as an Assistant U.S. Lawyer in 2007, where he handled a mix of criminal and civil matters in federal court. In 2013 he took a role as Resident Legal Adviser with the U.S. Department of Justice, a position that involved advising on legal reform and cooperating with foreign counterparts on criminal justice issues. The government years broadened his litigation background and introduced him to international aspects of legal practice.
In 2016 Kwok entered private practice as a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. At Skadden he has worked on appellate matters and federal litigation, drawing on his appellate clerkships and prosecutorial experience. His time in both public and private roles has shaped a practice that often bridges courtroom advocacy and complex legal strategy.
Colleagues describe Kwok as attentive in briefing and deliberate in oral argument. He tends to structure cases with an eye to how an appellate panel will view key legal questions. That approach has guided his work across criminal defenses, government investigations, and civil appeals, where careful record development and precise advocacy matter.
Kwok is admitted to practice in New York. He remains active in matters that require appellate insight and federal litigation experience. He currently practices at Skadden, handling appeals and federal cases that draw on his years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and his Supreme Court and circuit court clerkships.
