Leigh M. Skipper

Partner

  • Leigh M. Skipper
  • Phone: +1 215 979 1157

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    30 South 17th Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
    USA
  • Duane Morris LLP
    901 New York Avenue N.W., Suite 700 East
    Washington, DC 20001-4795
    USA

Leigh M. Skipper practices in the Trial Practice Group. He represents individuals and entities subject to compliance inquiries by local and federal law enforcement agencies. His practice is concentrated in white-collar criminal and civil litigation areas. Mr. Skipper’s clients include health care, pharmacy, energy and financial services providers.

Prior to joining Duane Morris, Mr. Skipper served as the Chief Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. During his tenure, he oversaw one of the largest federal defender offices in the country and was responsible for the training, strategy and supervision of more than 65 attorneys as well as investigators, technology and administrative support staff in the trial, appellate and capital habeas units. He successfully defended hundreds of cases involving fraud, tax, corruption, drug and other offenses and tried approximately 35 federal jury trials. Mr. Skipper was responsible for the training, management and selection of the attorneys on the Criminal Justice Act Panel and was accountable for all operational matters, including budgetary and personnel decisions.

The Honorable Arianna Freeman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Honorable Kai N. Scott and the Honorable Catherine Henry of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are products of his Office.

Mr. Skipper is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He serves on the College’s Pennsylvania State and Teaching of Trial and Appellate Advocacy Committees and was the former Chair of the Public Defender Committee. For ten years (2014-2024), he taught as an Adjunct Law Professor at the Drexel University Kline School of Law, teaching classes on Sentencing and Federal Criminal Law. He is a past president of the Barrister’s Association of Philadelphia and the National Association of Federal Defenders and has served as a past chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Selection and Retention Committee. In 2024, Mr. Skipper was listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. 

Mr. Skipper is a graduate of Howard University School of Law and a graduate of the University of Connecticut.

Areas of Practice

  • Trials

  • Internal Corporate Investigations and Referrals

  • State and Federal Grand Jury Investigations, Production and Compliance

  • NCAA Compliance and Investigations
  • EPA Investigations
  • White-Collar Corruption, Fraud and Money Laundering
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Criminal Justice Act Panel Member
  • Pharmacy Care Grand Jury Investigations

  • Identify Theft Fraud Investigations and Resolutions

  • Medical Malpractice Defense

  • Defense of Discrimination Claims

Representative Matters

  • Successful misdemeanor disposition in a federal corruption case.

  • Defense trial co-counsel in racial discrimination multi-defendant federal jury trial, securing a complete defense verdict.

  • State AG EPA regulatory investigation concluded with no action.

  • Extensive direct case experience in wire, bank, bribery, tax, health care, RICO and securities fraud investigations and prosecutions.

  • Obtained a full acquittal as sole counsel in a federal bank fraud prosecution.

  • Successful disposition in a massive “pump and dump” securities fraud prosecution.

  • Obtained a not guilty verdict as sole counsel on a false filing tax count and aggravated identity theft count (a two year mandatory minimum) on behalf of a former IRS employee. A one year probationary sentence was imposed.

  • Obtained reversal after trial for Brady violation as sole counsel for wire fraud prosecution. Probationary sentence imposed.

  • Sole Trial Counsel in a case challenging the unreliability of latent fingerprint evidence under the Daubert standard.

  • Participated as lead counsel in the successful challenge of the reliability of hearsay evidence at a sentencing proceeding.

  • Successfully limited the admissibility of portions of audio recordings leading to a deadlocked jury.

  • Obtained complete acquittals as both sole and lead counsel in federal prosecutions involving firearms and Hobbs Act related offenses.

  • Sole counsel trial counsel in reversal of conviction on standard for reasonableness of search for parolee.

  • Obtained dismissal of indictment in false statement and conversion of government funds case.

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • New York
  • Washington, D.C.
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Education

  • Howard University School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Connecticut, B.S.

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 2022-present
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    - Chief Federal Defender, 2009-2022
    - Assistant and Supervisory Assistant Federal Defender, 1991-2009
  • Defender Association of Philadelphia-Jury and Bench Trials
    - Assistant State Defender, 1988-1991
  • Drexel University Kline School of Law
    - Adjunct Professor, 2014-2024

Professional Activities

  • Federal Magistrate Judges Selection Committee, 2023-2024
  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
    - Member, PA State Committee
     -- Trial and Appellate Advocacy Teaching Committee
     -- Former Chair, Public Defender Committee
  • United States Sentencing Commission
    - At Large Member – Practitioner’s Advisory Group
  • Pennsylvania Innocence Project
    - Board Member
  • Attorney Disciplinary Hearing Committee, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    - Panel Chair and Member, 1999-2005
  • Philadelphia Bar Association
    - Past Chair, Judicial Selection and Retention Committee, 2003 and 2008
  • Third Circuit Lawyers Advisory Committee
    -Chair, 1996
  • Federal Magistrate Judge Re-appointment Panel
    -Member, 2008
  • Barrister’s Association of Philadelphia
    - President, 2000-2001
  • National Association of Federal Defenders
    - President, 2014-2016
  • Appointed by the Governor to the Indigent Defense Advisory Committee

Honors and Awards

  • Selected as a Diversity in Business Honoree by the Philadelphia Business Journal, 2025

  • Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2024

  • Recipient, Diversity Initiative Professional Excellence Award, The Legal Intelligencer, 2023
  • Top 10 Lateral Hires of the Year in Philadelphia’s Legal Industry, The Philadelphia Business Journal, 2022
  • Recipient, Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Maureen Rowley Award, 2023

  • Recipient, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Barristers Award for Commitment to Social Justice, 2019

  • Recipient, Temple Beasley School of Law Gideon Award, 2012

  • Recipient, Cecil B. Moore Barristers Award for Service to the Philadelphia Legal Community, 2011

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Moderator, Judicial Panel, “Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Practice,” Philadelphia Bar Association Federal Bench Bar Conference, November 2023

  • Co-presenter, "What to Do When the Government Comes Knocking," Energy and Environmental Industries General Counsel Boot Camp, Webinar, May 19, 2023
  • Co-presenter, “Fireside Chat with Darrin Howard,” Federal Criminal Law Committee for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Quarterly Meeting, January 2023

  • "The Impact of Covid on the Judiciary," Attorney General Alliance-Africa Partnership-Effective Administration of Justice for the Nigerian Judiciary of Imo, December 2022

Selected Publications