Steven F. Hubachek
Supervisory Appellate Attorney
Hastings College of Law, J.D.
University of California, Berkeley, B.A.

As Chief Appellate Attorney, Steven Hubachek oversees Federal Defenders' dedicated and dynamic appellate division. He regularly appears before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on two occasions in the last two years. His recent appellate victories include: United States v. Ubaldo-Figueroa, 364 F.3d 1042, (9th Cir. 2004) ; United States v. Sandoval-Venegas, 292 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 2002) (for the amici curiae) (en banc); United States v. McGowan, 274 F.3d 1251 (9th Cir. 2001); United States v. Rivera-Sanchez, 247 F.3d 905 (9th Cir. 2001); United States v. Blanco-Gallegos, 188 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1999); and United States v. Casarez-Bravo, 181 F.3d 1074 (9th Cir. 1999).

When not arguing before the Ninth Circuit, Steve finds time to keep the San Diego federal defender community up to date on developments in Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court law. He is actively involved in litigating issues involving illegal reentry cases, 8 U.S.C. § 1326, and recently spoke on that topic before the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Steve has also been called upon to testify before the United States Sentencing Commission about his expertise on federal court practice in the Southern District of California.

Steve first came to Federal Defenders as a trial attorney in 1989. He briefly left the office in 1992 to open his own law practice. He returned in 1996 as a Senior Trial Attorney and accepted a supervisory position in 2000. In 2002, Steve was named Chief of the appellate division. Despite his active appellate caseload, Steve continues to remain involved in district court litigation, supervising younger attorneys as well as taking his own cases to trial.

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