Professor Henry “Steve” Stephens Jr. was dean of Chase College of Law from 1986 through June 1992, after serving as interim dean for the 1985-86 academic year. He joined the faculty in 1979, and was associate dean from 1981 to 1985.
Prior to joining the faculty, he was involved in litigation and environmental practice with the firms of Middleton, Reutlinger and Baird in Louisville, Kentucky; Robinson & McElwee in West Virginia; and Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald in Louisville. He has also been a special assistant attorney general and staff attorney for the Kentucky Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, and assistant counsel for the Louisville-Jefferson County Board of Health.
He is a past president of the Kentucky Bar Foundation and past chair of the boards of trustees of the Center for the Resolution of Disputes, and The Hillside Trust. From 2011 through 2015, he was a Kentucky commissioner and delegate to the Uniform Law Commission. From 2013 through 2016, he was a member of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission. His recent pro bono work in a successful motion to exclude evidence seized during an illegal search resulted in federal prosecutors making a sentencing offer of five years’ imprisonment, which a judge subsequently reduced to time served and thirty-two months, avoiding a possible life sentence.
Professor Stephens received a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky David Rosenberg College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Western Kentucky University. In 1996, he completed mediator training at the Harvard College of Law Program for Instruction of Lawyers. He was selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in 2005, the year the category of Alternative Dispute Resolution, was first listed, and has been included every year since. In 2015 he was selected by Best Lawyers in America as Lawyer of the Year for Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Cincinnati region.
Mediation Practice in Kentucky - Adoption of the Uniform Mediation Act Would Help, 42 N. Ky. L. Rev. 1 (2015).
Why Are Plaintiffs Taking So Long to Respond? A Quick Peek into the Other Room, 1 Ohio Ass'n of Civil Trial Attorneys 17 (2008) (co-authored with Joseph T. Modrino) SSRN
Preparing for Successful Mediations-Kentucky Style, 68 Ky Bench & Bar 21-25 (2004)
Evidentiary Uses for Environmental Agency Inspection Reports in Kentucky: The Dangers Posed by KRE 803(8), 18 J. Nat'l Resources & Envtl. L. 147 (2004) Hein Online
TMDL's for Nonpoint Sources In Kentucky: The Potential Impact Of Pronsolino v. Marcus, 16 J. Nat'l Resources & Envtl. L. 1 (2001) (co-authored with Monica Dias) Hein Online
Common Law Remedies for Petroleum Contamination in Kentucky, 14 Nat. Res. & Env. L. 1 (1998) Hein Online
EPA's Hazardous Waste Identification Rule, 10 Envtl. Newsline 1 (1996)
Air Operating Permits in Kentucky: Accounting for Fugitive Emissions and Preparing the Application, 23 N. Ky L. Rev. 25 (1995) Hein Online
Analyzing the CERCLA Liability of Owners and Operators at the Time of Disposal: When is 'Leaching' not 'Leaking'?, 24 ELR 10177 (1994)
A Fourth Glimpse of Black Lung Cases from the Sixth Circuit: Dickson v. Califano Revisited, 1983 Det. C. L. Rev. 311 (1983) Hein Online
The Second Decade of Federal Black Lung Benefits - The Sixth Circuit Tightens the Reins, 1982 Det. C. L. Rev. 269 (1982) Hein Online
Closing the Evidentiary Gap: A Review of Circuit Court Opinions Analyzing Federal Black Lung Presumptions of Entitlement, 1982 W. Va. L. Rev. 793 (1981) Hein Online
Another Gasp at Part B Black Lung Benefits: The sixth Circuit Expands and Interprets Its Prior Decisions, 1981 Det. C. L. Rev. 321 (1981) Hein Online
Commencing the Decade with Environmental Reform: the 1980 Kentucky General Assembly Implements the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, 69 Ky. L. J. 277 (1980) Hein Online
The Spirit of the Reform Act is Implemented: A review of Recent Black Lung Decisions from the Sixth Circuit, 44 Ky Bench & Bar 6 (October 1980)
The Continuing Saga of Part B Black Lung Benefits: A Review of Recent Decisions of the Sixth Circuit, 1980 Det. C. L. Rev. 5 (1980) Hein Online
Listed in Best Lawyers of America for Alternative Dispute Resolution since the inception of the category in 2005. In 2014, his peers selected him as Best Lawyers of America's "Lawyer of the Year" for Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.
Appointed as a commissioner to the Legislative Ethics Commission by Kentucky House of Representatives speaker Greg Stumbo and Kentucky Senate president Robert Stivers on Monday, June 2, 2014.
Selected for inclusion in, The Best Lawyers in America, Arbitration and Mediation (2015 ed.)
Federal Rules of Evidence: Significant Recent Developments, Eastern District of Kentucky Federal Bench and Bar Conference, Federal Bar Association, Lexington, KY (May 2013)
Leading panel of Kentucky mediators writing a column entitled "The Mediator’s Perspective" for each of the six issues of the Kentucky Justice Association's publication entitled "The Advocate"
Inducted into Kentucky's inaugural chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals
Full Commissioner, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
