UPDATED 3/10, 11:50 a.m. ET: It’s official. Brian Steel has joined Lil Durk’s defense team.
After Steel filed paperwork in anticipation of potentially replacing another lawyer on Durk’s team in a much-discussed murder-for-hire case, the attorney—known for previously representing Young Thug, among other familiar names—has seen the request granted by a judge.
See original story below.
Following the news that Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial would be delayed until August, famous attorney Brian Steel has submitted paperwork to replace one of the attorneys representing the Chicago rapper.
In court documents reviewed by Complex, Steel requested to replace attorney Jonathan M. Brayman in the case.
Complex has reached out to Steel for comment. This story may be updated.
Steel famously represented Young Thug in his long-winded racketeering trial, ultimately getting the Atlanta rapper released after two and a half years behind bars. Steel showed a lot of dedication to Thug throughout the trial, and was even jailed by Fulton County Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville, who was later replaced by Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker, for refusing to reveal his sources.
Steel garnered a lot of goodwill in the hip-hop community for his work during the Thug trial, and Drake and PartyNextDoor paid tribute to him with a song named after him on their collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. Following the trial, Steel said that Thug was a “hero” for showing the “criminal justice system is corrupt.”
In an appearance on Killer Mike’s Conversate podcast last month, Mike brought up the federal government’s “94, 95 percent” conviction rate, and Steel replied, “Not with us.” His reputation makes it easy to see why Durk would want him on his legal team.
Lil Durk’s federal murder-for-hire trial was pushed back last month after a judge denied a request from his co-defendants to be tried separately. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled that the case would proceed jointly and would start on August 20, 2026. Several co-defendants in the case wanted to be tried separately from Durk’s, but Fitzgerald argued that they had been accused of participating in the same murder-for-hire conspiracy.
Durk has denied the accusations against him. The rapper has been behind bars since he was arrested in October 2024. He has been accused in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Quando Rondo, whose cousin was fatally shot in 2022. The case was originally scheduled to begin next month.