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WASHINGTON - The investigation into whether prosecutors broke the law in pursuing their case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is being led by a Harley-riding attorney known for his low-key style and experience on both sides of criminal law.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan chose Washington lawyer Henry F. Schuelke III as a special prosecutor to investigate criminal charges against the Justice Department lawyers who handled the Stevens case.

The appointment of Schuelke was an unusual move by the judge, who was clearly angered and concerned about misconduct in the case, which resulted in a jury verdict against Stevens that cost him his Senate seat a few days later. Sullivan dismissed the conviction Tuesday, saying he's never seen such mishandling and misconduct by prosecutors.

Schuelke is assigned to review the actions of top government lawyers to determine if their failure to turn over key information to Stevens' defense team violated the law. The Justice Department is conducting its own investigation, but Sullivan said it's moving too slowly and the allegations are too important to leave to an internal review.

Nearly every person who has worked with Schuelke interviewed by The Associated Press used the same words to describe the New Jersey native: "low key." They said he's deliberate, not a grandstander, even dry.

But Schuelke clearly also has a side that thrives on thrill. He likes fast cars and motorcycles, his friends say, and he drives a Porsche to work in Washington from his home on the Chesapeake Bay. He loves to be on the water and has entered fishing competitions.

Attorney E. Lawrence Barcella, who has known Schuelke for nearly 40 years, said Schuelke is a married father of two adult children who dotes on his grandchildren. The two men are part of a group of attorneys that takes regular ski vacations to the Rocky Mountains.

"Hank is very smooth, very laid-back kind of guy, not given to outbursts of anger, not the kind of guy who is a table-pounder," Barcella said. "He's somebody who is scrupulously balanced, which I think is what you are looking for."

Schuelke is a top white-collar criminal attorney at a boutique firm, Janis, Schuelke & Wechsler, that he founded 30 years ago with two colleagues who worked with him as assistant U.S. attorneys for the District of Columbia. The firm has earned a national reputation, but Schuelke's friends say he and the other partners have rebuffed offers to sell to bigger firms and give up their independence.

Schuelke and his partners declined to comment on his appointment.

Barbara Van Gelder, a lawyer who has worked on cases with Schuelke, said the Christmas party held every year in the firm's historic townhome near Dupont Circle is the event of the season. She said white-collar attorneys, prosecutors and judges can put aside legal battles and socialize.

"It's a DMZ zone," she said.

The firm usually represents individuals and teams up with larger firms that represent the corporations involved. Schuelke's clients have included former Enron Corp. Treasurer Ben F. Glisan Jr., Tyson Foods lobbyist Jack L. Williams and White House aide Carolyn Huber during the Whitewater investigation.

After lobbyist Jack Abramoff was accused in a corruption scandal, his former firm, Greenberg Traurig, hired Schuelke to conduct an internal investigation.

In 1989, Democrats on the Senate Ethics Committee chose Schuelke to investigate influence-peddling allegations against former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. He also served as a special Democratic counsel in Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination of Alexander M. Haig Jr. as secretary of state in the Reagan administration.

Attorney Bill Taylor said Schuelke was a unanimous choice when the commission that reviews and disciplines judges in Washington, which Taylor used to chair, needed its own attorney. He said he's the right man for the special prosecutor job.

"I think it's a good choice for both the public and for the people involved," Taylor said. "Hank Schuelke will call it exactly as he sees it, and he is the last person on the planet who would be interested in simply finding someone to be at fault just for purposes of making other people happy."

Stevens' case was the most high-profile attack on congressional corruption in recent years. Once the Senate's longest-serving Republican after 40 years in office, Stevens narrowly lost re-election to Democrat Mark Begich.

The unraveling of the case overshadowed the facts of a trial in which Stevens was shown to have accepted thousands of dollars in undisclosed gifts. After Sullivan dismissed the case, Stevens turned to his friends and held up a fist in victory as his wife and daughters broke into loud sobs. A couple of Stevens supporters broke into applause when Sullivan announced the criminal investigation.

Subjects of the criminal probe are lead prosecutor Brenda Morris, the department's No. 2 corruption official and an instructor within the department; public integrity prosecutors Nicholas Marsh and Edward Sullivan; Alaska federal prosecutors Joseph Bottini and James Goeke; and William Welch, who did not participate in the trial but who supervises the Public Integrity Section and has overseen every major public corruption case in recent years.

The Justice Department said in response that it would review the court's order. The prosecutors under investigation either declined comment or did not respond to messages.

Attorney General Eric Holder said he was troubled by the findings and the judge's statement but defended the department's internal investigation. "I think we are fully capable of looking at ourselves, if that was necessary," he told CBS News.

Paul O'Brien, a federal prosecutor newly assigned to the case, apologized to the judge on behalf of the department.