MoveMakers and NewsMakers for Oct. 14, 2025

St. Louis

The “Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service” was recently awarded by the Eighth Circuit Bar Association to Shazzie Naseem.

Shazzie Naseem focuses his practice on complex federal white collar criminal defense and high-stakes business litigation. In addition to his litigation practice, he is frequently appointed as a special master and an eDiscovery special master in civil cases involving complex discovery and electronic data management issues. Drawing on over two decades of courtroom experience, Shazzie utilizes his discipline, judgment, and strategic insight to represent individuals, executives, and companies facing investigation, prosecution, or civil liability in matters involving fraud, regulatory enforcement, and commercial disputes. His advocacy spans both trial and appellate courts, and he regularly appears before federal and state agencies.

Before joining Berkowitz Oliver in 2006, Shazzie served for six years on active duty as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. As a Navy JAG officer, he tried courts-martial to verdict, represented hundreds of service members in investigations and administrative proceedings, and provided critical legal support to reservists preparing for deployment in the aftermath of 9/11. He also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, where he prosecuted violations of federal and state law.

In addition to his private practice, Shazzie is committed to public service and the protection of the right to counsel in the federal justice system. Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Shazzie to serve on the Federal Criminal Rules Advisory Committee in 2024 for a three-year term. He has also served as a Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel Attorney in both the Western District of Missouri and the District of Kansas. In the Western District, he was selected by Chief Judge Beth Phillips to lead the panel as the Panel Attorney District Representative (PADR) and was elected by his peers across the circuit to serve as the Eighth Circuit’s representative to the Defender Services Advisory Group (DSAG), a national body responsible for shaping policy and supporting the federal defense function.

In 2024, Shazzie was appointed as the national co-chair of DSAG and served as the CJA Panel Representative on the Defender Services Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. That committee, chaired by Judge Cathy Seibel (S.D.N.Y.) and composed of federal judges appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, exercises national oversight of the defense function in federal courts.

Shazzie is a frequent speaker on legal technology and the use of litigation software in modern practice. He has served as a faculty member for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ Law and Technology Series, where he trained lawyers and paralegals across the country on the effective integration of technology in federal criminal defense. He has also served as a Coordinating Discovery Attorney for federal criminal cases, where he advised defense teams on managing large volumes of electronically stored information, coordinated with prosecutors on the format and timing of productions, and implemented strategic review workflows.

Shazzie earned his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School, where he was a national champion in the American College of Trial Lawyers Moot Court Competition and the recipient of the Arthur A. May Award for excellence in trial advocacy and ethical professionalism. He earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Religion from Truman State University, where he was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar.

This year’s Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service was presented during the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference held in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 1, 2025. The award is named in honor of former Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold, who led a distinguished career that included graduating first in his class at Yale University and Harvard Law School. Judge Arnold clerked for Justice William Brennan on the Supreme Court of the United States before entering private practice and serving on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Arnold’s biographer said that he was “perhaps the best judge never to serve on the Supreme Court.” The award is certainly fitting for Mr. Naseem, who likewise has achieved a career of distinguished service.