Steinberg proposed the Dual Systems Model of adolescent brain development.

He has also been a frequent consultant to state and federal agencies and lawmakers on child labor, secondary education, and juvenile justice policy, as well as an expert witness in criminal trials of juveniles and young adults accused of serious violent crimes.

[9] Steinberg has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the National Academy of Sciences' Henry and Bryna David Lectureship; the Society for Research on Adolescence's John P. Hill Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Adolescence; the Society for Adolescent Medicine's Gallagher Lectureship; and the Association for Psychological Science's James McKeen Fellow Award.

[12] In 2009, he was the first recipient of the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for Productive Youth Development.

[13] In 2014, he received the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, a national prize given to professors who have "inspired former students to make a contribution to society.