Stephanie M. Baucus

Stephanie Baucus represents individuals, companies, public sector clients, and nonprofit organizations in civil litigation, corporate matters, white collar and other criminal cases, regulatory proceedings, and administrative matters. Her practice includes internal investigations, government investigations, federal and Montana regulatory work, corporate compliance planning, and nonprofit counseling, among other legal matters. She also advises clients on government relations, public affairs, administrative regulation, federal and Montana legislation, and corporate social responsibility (“CSR”).Stephanie was born on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and she grew up there and in a small town in East Tennessee. After high school, Stephanie attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she majored in both Political Science and Religious Studies, with a concentration on Christian Studies. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Class Marshall, awarded a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, elected to College Council and the Student Government Association, and elected Ms. Emory by the Student Body.After completing her undergraduate studies, Stephanie attended law school at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, where she was elected to Law School Council for three years and served as a student advocate and Executive Director of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. She was also awarded a Dean’s Award for Community Leadership in her third year.Upon graduating from law school, Stephanie practiced law in Washington, DC. She represented corporate, individual, foreign sovereign, municipal, and pro bono clients in international civil litigation and in state and federal courts. She worked with clients across various industries, including banking and financial services, securities, mortgage lending, energy, insurance, healthcare, transportation and aviation, food and product safety, management consulting, and international business and trade. In her client work, she gained experience with those industries and with other discrete areas of law, including criminal and civil fraud, federal enforcement proceedings before the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), regulatory proceedings by federal and state government agencies, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), antitrust, intellectual property, privacy, healthcare, Medicare and disability benefits, bankruptcy, and government contracts and procurement.Stephanie left private practice to accept an appointed position at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as an Associate Director, focusing on intergovernmental relations and public engagement. At the Department, Stephanie supported the White House and agency leadership through outreach, relationship building, and advocacy efforts with state and local governments, other federal agencies, external constituency groups, and the public. In particular, Stephanie served as the Attorney General's principal representative to state legislators and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and to county officials and the National Association of Counties (NACo). Further, Stephanie worked closely with a number of national groups like the American Bar Association, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In her work with these and other external constituency groups, Stephanie worked on a number of key federal policy issues, including civil rights, immigration, judicial nominations and executive appointments, attorney client privilege, juvenile justice, human trafficking, federal sentencing and corrections policy, indigent defense, wrongful convictions, mental health care, federal grants, and federal diversity initiatives.After leaving the U.S. Department of Justice, Stephanie joined Perennial Strategy Group where she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Government and Public Affairs. As General Counsel, her practice focused on transactional work, contract drafting and negotiations, lobbying and regulatory compliance, trademarks and intellectual property, joint venture and contractor agreements, and human resources. Stephanie also advised the firm's clients in their government and external affairs, managed relationships with government officials, assisted clients with their corporate communications and public affairs, developed strategic community affairs and corporate social responsibility programs for clients, built strategic coalitions, and coordinated philanthropic events. She led the firm’s efforts in human resource and diversity training, particularly in developing courses on unconscious and implicit bias.In addition to her legal practice, Stephanie has been actively involved in philanthropic and civic activities in Billings, across Montana, and around the country. She has served as a leader and fundraiser with a number of local and national organizations that are dedicated to helping at-risk children and adolescents, reducing homelessness, supporting victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, fighting heart disease, promoting youth involvement in politics and civic life, encouraging women to run for office, providing access to the arts, celebrating Montana’s history, and cleaning up the National Mall.Stephanie lives in Billings with her husband Zeno and her two daughters. She enjoys travel, cooking and baking, music and singing, and genealogy.