Steven R. Ruby
Email: sruby@cdkrlaw.com
A former federal prosecutor and a veteran of nationally noted cases, Steve Ruby maintains a practice that spans civil litigation of all stripes, criminal defense, gaming regulation, and state and federal administrative law. He is equally at home before a jury, an appellate court, or a regulatory body. Whatever the forum, his incisive analysis and compelling advocacy usually carry the day for his client.
Steve is an eighth-generation West Virginian who began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Robert B. King of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, then worked at one of the nation’s top litigation firms before returning home to serve as a prosecutor. He rose to become chief of white-collar prosecutions and amassed a record of convictions that gained national renown. In the wake of a coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners, Steve spearheaded an investigation that led to five criminal convictions and a $209 million resolution with the corporate successor of the mine’s operator–the largest-ever recovery in a criminal mine safety case. That investigation culminated in a nine-week jury trial and the first-ever conviction of a major-company CEO for a workplace safety crime. The case was featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes in March 2016.
Steve also led the investigation and prosecution of a California extortioner who made death threats to seven prominent American business leaders, including the owner of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills. The perpetrator in that case threatened to murder his victims’ families unless they paid demands totaling $122 million. In another extortion case, Steve investigated and prosecuted a defendant targeting West Virginia’s then governor. He also secured convictions of eight elected officials in cases involving corruption and other abuses of public office.
Since leaving public service, Steve has represented, among others, the governor of West Virginia, a United States senator, a state Supreme Court justice in an impeachment proceeding, a Fortune 15 healthcare company in landmark nationwide prescription opioid litigation, one of the world’s leading online gaming companies in regulatory matters, a major energy company in an SEC investigation, a group of wine wholesalers in an antitrust action against one of the country’s largest beverage distributors, an operator of skilled nursing facilities from whom Maryland’s Attorney General sought hundreds of millions of dollars, a university whose property was contaminated by a nearby chemical plant, individuals and families who have suffered catastrophic injuries and the loss of loved ones, and criminal defendants.
Steve graduated first in his class from the Washington & Lee University School of Law in 2006 and earned his Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Duke University in 2000.